Marvel Penguin Picks: June 2026

Above-the-Board Recommendation:

Spider-Man:  Long Way Home #1 (of 5)

So, you may have heard that we’re getting a new “Spider-Man” movie in July.  Marvel, always chasing the synergistic movie-to-comic tie-in, is putting out this new mini-series that takes place early on in Spidey’s career.  So early that the Hulk and Punisher, the other featured characters in this story, are just a rumor or before they’ve settled into their defined role, respectively.  It’s also time where A.I.M. has managed to develop its own Cosmic Cube in the jungles of South America, and these three heroes(?) are out to do two things:  Keep the Cube out of A.I.M.’s hands and out of the hands of the other two guys as well.

“Give us a ‘Spider-Man’ story that’s set in his early days that also features the Hulk and Punisher so we can sell it to people after they’ve seen ‘Brand New Day,’” appears to have been the remit here.  You need the right kind of creative team to pull off that kind of bare-bones setup, and boy does this miniseries have it in writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Adam Kubert.  They’ve shown they can do great superhero comics time and time again and given Hickman’s last solo character miniseries, I see no reason not to expect greatness from this.  Even if history tells me that we might not be getting all five issues of this in five months.

Avengers:  Armageddon #1 (of 5):  The Red Hulk has been flexing his power all over the world and now it’s up to the Avengers to stop him.  This has been hyped for a while as the next big Marvel event to follow “One World Under Doom” and it’s nice to see this coming in at a relatively short five issues.  Chip Zdarsky writes, and he’ll be following up on that event as well as events in his current “Captain America” run, the “Wolverine:  Weapons of Armageddon” miniseries, and even “Ultimate Incursion” if the rumors are to be believed.  Delio Diaz and Frank Alpizar are illustrating this and I can’t remember the last time Marvel had an art team this unknown illustrate one of their big events, so I hope their trust isn’t misplaced.  Still, as the Next Big Thing it’s certain to get everyone’s attention, unless there’s some other major event starting in these solicitations…

Queen in Black #1 (of 5):  Oh… It looks like Al Ewing’s run on “Venom” is either reaching its climax or needs another shot in the arm, and they’re bringing Knull back to do it.  Not just him, however, as the title character is actually Hela of Asgard and she’s already made her way to Earth with her own symbiote army.  I’m sure they’re both reasonable avatars of evil and won’t fight over our planet, right?  Anyhow, expect anyone not already involved in “Armageddon” (Will either series acknowledge the other’s existence?  Probably not, but it’d be crazy if there was some interplay between them.) to show up here, particularly if they’re a Spider-person.  Oh, and Dylan Brock too, but I have this awful feeling that we could be seeing the last of him here given that no one after Donny Cates has shown they know how to use him.  Ewing writes, with former “Venom” artist Iban Coello illustrating.

What If…?  Uncanny X-Men #1:  We’re getting another round of these one-shots this month and writer Gerry Duggan has picked a hell of a topic to explore with this one:  What if Cyclops had stayed with Madelyne Pryor?  That he left her and his son Nathan to join “X-Force” has always been a stain on the X-man’s character, but now we can see what would’ve happened if he’d stood by his family at the time.  Unfortunately this isn’t going to be one of those happy “What If…?” stories as the solicitation text helpfully lets us know it’s the worst thing that could’ve happened to mutantkind and the Earth itself.  So you’ll see that when Scott left his wife and kid, he was actually saving us all!  Shame on you for thinking he was some kind of lousy deadbeat for putting mutants ahead of his family.  Regardless of how you actually feel, Jan Bazaluda illustrates a story that is definitely going to be more interesting than “What if Thor got Spider-Man’s symbiote suit?”

X-Men:  Age of Krakoa Omnibus HC by Kieron Gillen:  I know what you’re thinking, “Why wasn’t this the ‘Above-the-Board’ recommendation for this month?”  God knows I never stopped singing Gillen’s praises during this era, and even put his work specifically on  my “Best of” list for 2024.  Well, the reason for that is because this omnibus isn’t complete.  Yes, it collects all of “Immortal X-Men,” “Immoral X-Men” and the “Sins of Sinister” one-shots bookending it, and the “X-Men:  Forever” miniseries.  Do you know what it’s missing?  “RISE OF THE POWERS OF X!”  You know, Gillen’s half of the event series that closed out the Krakoan Era.  It wasn’t directly attached to “Fall of the House of X,” so I don’t know why they didn’t include it here.  Even so, it means there’s going to be a big gaping hole near the end of what should’ve been an easily recommendable omnibus.

Ultimates vol. 4:  Uprising:  While the decision to wrap up this incarnation of the Ultimate Universe after two years is commendable, in terms of not having it overstay its welcome, it apparently caught some of its creators a little off guard.  Which is why “Ultimates” and “Logan” continued running issues during “Ultimate Endgame” and how we’re getting this final volume with six issues and change.  Whether or not that’s a good thing… vol. 2 was better, and it actually appeared to be reckoning with its failures at the end.  Vol. 3 is in the mail, so I can only hope that the improvement continues, even though I’ve yet to read a comic by Deniz Camp that I’ve enjoyed without reservation.

Uncanny X-Men by Gail Simone vol. 4 & X-Men by Jed MacKay vol. 4:  These are the first post-”Age of Revelation” volumes and… they’re skinny little things.  “Uncanny” only collects four issues while “X-Men” collects three, but both collections are being buffed by their annuals.  Even though they’re both following in the wake of that event, only “X-Men” is following up on it while “Uncanny” is doing something monster-themed.  No points guessing which title I think has the most momentum right now.  If you need another hint, it’s the one that has “Batman” and “Nocterra” artist Tony Daniel joining its art team with this volume.