Marvel Penguin Picks: July 2025
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Ultimate Wolverine vol. 1: The Winter Soldier
The original Ultimate Universe’s use of its version of Wolverine was surprisingly restrained, all things considered. He was part of the main cast of “Ultimate X-Men,” of course, and only ventured outside the confines of that title for the occasional event series, and one crossover with “Ultimate Spider-Man.” By the time they finally got around to doing a proper “Ultimate Wolverine” series, however, he was dead and it was actually about his son got to know his old man after that.
Marvel’s not doing that this time around, and while this may seem like an opportunity to serve up some familiar “X-Men” action in light of what the current “Ultimate X-Men” series is doing, that may not be the case here. As you can see by this volume’s subtitle, James “Logan” Howlett is now a weapon of the Russia faction of the Maker’s Council, and in a role that’s not entirely dissimilar to what we’ve seen him do in the past. I’m curious to see what writer Chris Condon does with that, even though my experience with him has been mixed in light of “That Texas Blood” and “The Enfield Gang Massacre.” I’m less familiar with artist Alessandro Capuccio, but all of the current “Ultimate” titles have had really solid art so far, which means that I should expect that level of quality from him here as well.
Fantastic Four #1: Did you hear that there’s a new “Fantastic Four” movie premiering in theaters the same month that this comic comes out? The MCU movie synergy is in full swing here as we’re getting a new #1 issue of the comic it’s based off of that isn’t actually a “new” #1. That’s because the series is still being written by Ryan North, he’s just doing a new jumping-on-point story with art from Humberto Ramos to boost interest. Never mind the fact that this series is also meant to be tying into “One World Under Doom” right now, as the synergy machine is putting that event on hiatus for this month. Does all of this seem like more trouble than it’s worth for a one-month sales bump? Absolutely, but Marvel’s going to keep Marveling after all these years. That’s not all the movie-tie in shenanigans at the publisher for this month…
Fantastic Four: First Steps #1: This is a one-shot that’s being pitched as the in-universe story of how the Fantastic Four came to be. Not an updating of the origin itself, but a comic that’s actually part of the Marvel Universe itself. Got that? Anyway, it comes from a shockingly high-quality creative team in the form of former “Fantastic Four” writer Matt Fraction and “Miracleman” and “Fables” artist Mark Buckingham. I can only assume the high concept approach to this series appealed to them as it’s hard to imagine any other reason they’d want to take this on. You know, outside of large stacks of cash. At least I hope they were large stacks of cash.
Captain America #1: You might be forgiven for thinking that this current political era may not be the right time to do a new series about a character who’s meant to represent the best parts of our country. New writer Chip Zdarsky and artist Valerio Schiti appear to have agreed with you as the first arc of this series takes place back in the past after Cap was thawed out of the ice he was frozen in at the end of World War II. Now he’s faced with upstart dictator Doctor Doom’s takeover of Latveria and a decision about what he’s going to do about it. This choice is said to have ramifications for his future, so Zdarsky and Schiti don’t appear to be staying in the past for long. Whether or not trying to write Cap in the present day is something that’s even workable remains to be seen.
Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe #1 (of 5): Another one for the Does What It Says On The Tin pile, I would imagine. The Big G is back in a miniseries that doesn’t appear to be picking up from any of the previous era-specific one-shots, but is nevertheless coming from “Godzilla vs. Hulk” writer Gerry Duggan with art from Javier Garron. This miniseries begins with Godzilla being violently awoken and then proceeding to wreak havoc across the Earth, the Dark Dimension, and beyond! Also, he’s got some strange connection to vibranium here too. It all should be fine coming from Duggan and Garron, but I’m not as interested in this as I am in the final “Godzilla vs.” one-shot listed in these solicitations…
Godzilla vs. Thor #1: This is being written by Jason Aaron, who has quite the history with the God of Thunder, and if you thought this was going to just be a one-shot where the two title characters fight then you’re in for a surprise. That’s because the reason Godzilla has returned is not only because he’s been resurrected by The Hand, but he’s been imbued with the powers of their mythical leader The Beast as well. THIS is what Thor has to protect Midgard from and if I wasn’t already set to buy the collected edition of these one-shots, then you better believe that this one from Aaron and artist Aaron Kuder would’ve sealed the deal.
Marvel Swimsuit Special #1: Friends, Foes, Rivals: These were a staple of the 90’s and I couldn’t be bothered with them because they were just characters in swimsuits and nothing more. This time around, there’s actually a story from “Local Man” writers Tim Seely and Tony Fleecs that has Roxxon publishing their own unauthorized Marvel Swimsuit Special and the Wasp trying to undercut them by getting the heroes to put out their own. Which sounds cute, if nothing else. But it’s not helped by the solicitation text telling us that enjoying this story is equivalent to reading it “for the articles.” Which was usually the excuse given by men as to why they read Playboy – something my teenage self was much more interested in than a comics-based swimsuit issue.
Spider-Man vs. The Sinister Sixteen #1: This is the last of J. Michael Straczynski’s unlikely series of team-up issues, and it looks to be the most straightforward of them. After all, it’s just Spider-Man vs. a lot more villains than usual, illustrated by the talented Phil Noto. The hope here is that we get to see the Ol’ Web-Head take on some bad guys that he’s never actually come up against before. Otherwise, what would the point of this be?
G.O.D.S.: One World Under Doom #1: While the main series is taking a month off, its tie-ins continue unabated. Including this one from its writer, Ryan North, which stands as the one I least expected to see here. In case you’ve forgotten, “G.O.D.S.” was writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Valerio Schiti’s short-lived attempt to redefine the magical side of the Marvel Universe. It had plenty of spectacle, lots of big ideas, and memorable characters, but never clicked with the general public enough to give it the time it needed to put all of these together in the long-term. Now North is bringing back Wyn, agent of the Powers-that-Be, and his apprentice Mia in a story that has Doom trying to win the young girl to his side. I’m interested because this isn’t the kind of thing you bring back on a whim, which means that North must have a story that he wants to tell with these characters. We’ll see if it, and the art from Francesco Moritano, are any good in a few months.
Uncanny X-Men by Brian Michael Bendis Omnibus HC: Lots of good ideas, not enough follow-through on them.
X-Men by Al Ewing Omnibus HC: It’s an “X-Men” omnibus where the creator featured in the title didn’t actually write an issue of that series. This collects the “S.W.O.R.D.” and “X-Men: Red” series written by Ewing, the “Resurrection of Magneto” follow-up mini, and the assorted one-shots he also wrote. As well as the “Storm and the Brotherhood of Mutants” mini that was part of the “Sins of Sinister” event, and while it was good, I’m not sure how well it’ll read divorced from that context. In fact, while much of what Ewing wrote here is good, it also served the larger storytelling needs of the Krakoa Era. So this omnibus will be an interesting litmus test to see whether or not it’s able to stand on its own. For who, exactly? Fans of Ewing who didn’t bother to read his “X-Men” stuff, I guess.
All-New Venom vol. 1: Who is All-New Venom?: Someone whose identity was spoiled by Marvel itself after they were concerned that the reveal issue wasn’t being ordered as highly as they thought it should be. This represents a soft reboot for Ewing’s tenure with the character following “Venom War,” which apparently ended badly for both Eddie and Dylan Brock. As for this new character, it may look like they’ve hit the jackpot, but as any previous host of Venom can tell you, their life is about to become a lot more complicated. Good thing this new host has had plenty of experience thanks to what their on-again, off-again boyfriend has put them through over the years.
X-Men by Jed Mackay vol. 2: Hostile Takeover: Collecting issues #11-12 and 14-18, skipping the “X-Manhunt” issue. Which gives the impression that it’s not required reading for this title. Or for any of the other currently ongoing X-titles as well. I’d have more to say about this volume, but vol. 1 is still in my To Read pile. Hopefully I’ll be getting to that soon after I’m all caught up on my podcast reading.