Marvel Penguin Picks: March 2022
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Defenders: There Are No Rules
Al Ewing was doing great work at Marvel long before he blew up with “The Immortal Hulk.” I’ll refer you to his “New Avengers” and “Loki” series if you need convincing. Both series had great writing and clever plotting in addition to a willingness to take odd, random bits of Marvel history and find new ways of looking at them. That last bit has been the real calling card of his work at the company and it’s likely to remain true here as Ewing revives the idea of a disparate group of heroes being stuck with each other to take on a greater threat with this latest “Defenders” series. Reality is facing its undoing from Marvel’s oldest villain and Doctor Strange has assembled a team that includes the Silver Surfer, Harpy Betty Banner, and two more heroes I can’t quite identify from this volume’s cover, to go through time in order to stop its assault. Along the way they’ll also come face-to-face with the secret architecture of the universe, which sounds like something that would be tough to realize on the page. Except for the fact that this miniseries is being drawn by Javier Rodriguez who specializes in drawing anything and everything, while also making it look good.
Immortal X-Men #1: While he was taking some time off from Marvel, Kieron Gillen said that the one way he could be lured back is if he was given the same kind of autonomy Jonathan Hickman had when he was defining the Krakoa era of “X-Men.” It’s easy to assume he got that when he was working on “Warhammer” and “Eternals.” but it’s telling that he’s only coming back to the X-Men now that Hickman has left. And what a title he’s coming back to write! “Immortal X-Men” is effectively the book about the Quiet Council, the ruling body of Krakoa. Given that any scene involving this ruling body involves individuals with great power (and powers) trying to advance their own agenda while delivering withering insults at each other, this seems like a PERFECT fit for the writer’s sensibilities. Even better is that he’ll be writing Mister Sinister again, and that would be worth the price of admission itself. Lucas Werneck will be illustrating this volume and while my only memories of him are some fill-in work he did on “Marauders” I’ll reserve judgment on his skills until I see what he’s done with “The Trial of Magneto.”
X-Men Unlimited: Latitude #1: This one-shot collects the story Jonathan Hickman and Declan Shalvey did for Marvel Unlimited. I read it there and it’s a good use of the format’s “infinite scroll” capabilities to tell a simple yet stylish story of Wolverine assaulting an orbital A.I.M. base in search of some kidnapped X-Men. The story’s real appeal is in seeing how the creators use the advantages of the digital format to deliver some extra-long pages showing the descent into the facility. This is all to say that while it’s a good demonstration of what you can do with digital comics, I imagine much of its appeal is going to be lost in the transition to an actual, physical comic.
Marauders #1: Steve Orlando formally takes over as new writer with artist Eleonora Carlini. I wish him the best of luck as Gerry Duggan’s original run was one of the breakout successes of the Krakoa Era. As for how Orlando is planning to top that, the solicitation text mentions that a certain infamous villain will be joining the team. Infamous because of her actions and because of how her initial return undercut certain aspects of Grant Morrison’s legendary run. Fortunately, the Resurrection Protocols have provided a way around that and all that remains to be seen is how reformed this villain is, if she is at all.
Wolverine: Patch #1 (of 5): Or, “Wolverine: We Heard You Still Like It When Larry Hama Writes Wolverine, So Here’s More Of It For You.” The legendary “Wolverine” writer teams up with Andrea DiVito for this story about when Ol’ Canucklehead was going by his Patch identity on Madripoor. The story involves Wolverine and his buddy Archie doing a simple recon mission that blows up into a paramilitary struggle involving none other than Nick Fury. This miniseries looks to be made for a specific kind of fan of the character, and as I’m old enough to have read Hama’s “Wolverine” when he was writing it regularly I’m assuming that’s me. I’d be fine with checking this out, on Marvel Unlimited, of course.
Captain Carter #1 (of 5): How popular was the “What If?” episode where Sharon Carter wound up taking the Super-Soldier Serum instead of Steve Rogers? Popular enough to get its own spinoff miniseries showing us what happens when she arrived in the modern era. Jamie McKelvie writes instead of draws (though he does provide a cover) while “Doctor Aphra’s” Marika Cresta provides the art. While I can’t say that I was dying to know what happened to the character after the episode, the creative team involved gives me the impression that we’re going to get a solid answer. Solid, but perhaps not an exciting one.
Punisher #1 (of 12): You may have heard that Marvel has been reluctant to feature this character after his iconic skull insignia (and arguably his vigilante mindset) had been appropriated by the alt-right and featured prominently by a lot of individuals who took part in the Jan. 6th insurrection in Washington D.C. While I can understand the company’s reasoning, it fails to recognize the fact that Frank Castle would not have any sympathy or patience in dealing with those who think what he’s doing represents some kind of noble cause. But I digress. This new maxiseries comes to us from Jason Aaron, who brought the “Punisher MAX” era to an end with Steve Dillon, and artists Jesus Saiz and Paul Azaceta. The series is described as diving into the character’s bloody past, and his new present as the new Warlord of the Hand. I’ll admit that finding out that Frank Castle is now working for one of Marvel’s most notorious assassin groups strikes me as being very out of character for him, but this is likely to be misdirection on Aaron’s part. I’m interested in seeing where this goes, even if’d have rather read another Ennis/Parlov story about how the Punisher would deal with the Jan. 6th insurrectionists himself.
Star Wars: Han Solo & Chewbacca #1: The galaxy’s favorite scoundrel got his own miniseries relatively early on in Marvel’s current stewardship of the “Star Wars” license. Since then he’s only been featured as a regular player in the ongoing “Star Wars” series before it was relaunched. That changes now with this series from writer Marc Guggenheim and artist David Messina that looks to explore what the smuggler and his partner were up to a few years before “A New Hope.” According to the solicitation text, that involves working with Greedo on a heist for Jabba the Hut. The more things change, eh? I can see myself picking this up eventually, though I’m more than a little skeptical about any solicitation text which promises that the last page is a “jaw-dropper.”
Venomnibus by Cates and Stegman HC: Collects everything that the creators did on “Venom” including “Absolute Carnage” and “King in Black.” That’s 1,352 pages of comics for the relatively low price of $125. As I did a podcast on all this stuff a while back, I can tell you that this is all well worth your time.
Hellions by Zeb Wells HC: Less of a value at 512 pages for $75, but still worth it. Unless Wells completely flubs the landing in the final six issues. Which is something I don’t think is going to happen.
X Lives & Deaths of Wolverine: Much less of a value than the previous two hardcovers at 288 pages for $75. Though, this is the first edition of this story and it’s being positioned as one which is not just important to fans of Wolverine, but to the general storyline of the X-Men in general. I’ll be picking this up, because I’m interested in both of these things. Everyone who is merely curious about them should wait for the softcover edition, or until these issues hit Marvel Unlimited.