Marvel Penguin Picks: May 2024
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Get Fury #1 (of 5)
Part of me wonders if this falls into the same category of nostalgia comics being published by Marvel these days. I’m talking about the ones written by old standbys of the company like Chris Claremont, J.M. DeMatteis, Peter David, and the like which explore old corners of continuity regarding familiar characters. Ennis came into the industry a generation later than these writers, but absent any obvious reason for this series to exist – no upcoming movie or streaming series featuring these characters – you have to wonder if the bean-counters at Marvel figured there was still money to be made in having the writer return to the characters that defined him at the company.
They’re not wrong, at least as far as I’m concerned. Chronicling the adventures of Frank Castle is the one thing that Ennis has done consistently well over the years, even as the quality of his creator-and-corporate-owned projects has become increasingly uneven. From “Welcome Back Frank” to “Soviet,” however, the writer has always done right by that relentless killing machine and his sometimes partner Nick Fury. Which is a relationship that will be tested in this miniseries as we return to the late days of the Vietnam War and find out that Fury has fallen into the hands of the Vietcong. While his captors may not have an idea about all the secrets held by this man, his higher-ups do and figure it’ll be easier to have him taken out than rescued.
Given how Fury survives to show up in the pages of his subsequent miniseries and the “Punisher MAX” series, it’s not exactly a compelling premise. However, Ennis has mentioned that this miniseries will fill in the gaps regarding how Castle went from Special Ops golden boy to being stationed at the decrepit Firebase Valley Forge, so that’s something. I’m also willing to be we’ll be learning a thing or two about how these two came to rely on and even stand each other over the years. Jacen Burrows illustrates, which means we’ll be getting some quality ultraviolence to go with the dramatics, and that all adds up to a nostalgia project that I can get behind.
In the meantime, the regular Marvel Universe is engaged in a “Blood Hunt” and nearly every title is tying into or spinning off from it. Which leads us to this bit of cleverness…
Union Jack The Ripper: Blood Hunt #1 (of 3): Wherein the UK’s working-class superhero kills a lot of vampires while keeping a stiff upper lip. There’s really nothing else to go on here according to the solicitation text, which notes that it’s written by Cavan Scott and illustrated by Kev Walker. Which means that it’ll likely look great and be written fairly generically.
Amazing Spider-Man #’s 49 & 50: #49 is a tie-in to “Blood Hunt” written by Zeb Wells that leads into Spidey’s tie-in miniseries for the event which is not written by Wells. That’s irrelevant in the face of the big anniversary issue which features… *sigh* the return of the Green Goblin. We’re told that Norman Osborne’s sins have found their way home, “But is it truly that simple?” I’ve honestly liked seeing Osborne as a repentant villain, trying to do the right thing yet burdened with the knowledge of how he’s wronged others over the years. I suppose a return to form was inevitable, so I hope that Wells has figured out a way to pull this off in an interesting way. Which, uh, I have less confidence in these days. Post-”Dark Web,” the writer’s run on the title has become increasingly dramatic and darker and has lacked the balance of comedy and action that I liked from his early issues. I’ll still keep reading it on Marvel Unlimited because it’s effectively “free” that way, but I’m really feeling good about not picking this run up in print.
Deadpool & Wolverine: WWIII #1 (of 3): You may recall that there’s a little film set to feature these characters coming out in May. Though, I prefer the other title it was christened with by one of its stars on social media, “Wolverine & Asshole.” Regardless of what you call it, Marvel sees it as a big opportunity to cash in with a miniseries featuring Ol’ Canucklehead and the Merc With a Mouth. You can tell they’re taking it seriously because they’ve got a couple of A-listers to write and illustrate this comic, respectively: Joe Kelly and Adam Kubert. They’ve done enough good work at Marvel, and with the characters previously, that I’m interested in seeing what they do here. The real question is whether or not we’ll see the remaining two issues before the end of the year, because these kinds of media-tie-ins featuring top talent have a habit of spiraling off of the rails, schedule-wise. Place your bets now!
Doom #1: Sanford Green had a story he wanted to do regarding Doctor Doom, but he needed someone’s help to make sure the writing was on the same level as his art. Enter Jonathan Hickman, who knows a thing or two about Doom – someone who “is no man’s second choice.” Together, they’re going to send the character on a quest to amass more power than he ever has before in order to stop Galactus from destroying the universe. It may seem like a task too big for one man, which is why Doom is bringing along the one individual in the known cosmos he trusts more than any other: Valeria Richards. Even if it means I’ll have to wait until August to read this on Marvel Unlimited, everyone who doesn’t mind paying $7 for a 56-page one-shot should consider picking it up in May.
G.O.D.S. #8: Apparently not everything Jonathan Hickman touches turns to gold for Marvel. This series was launched with the idea of redefining the magical side of the universe and it appears to have reached its conclusion after eight issues. It’s not explicitly stated in the solicitation text, but: one of the variant covers has stated as much, it’s listed as an eight-issue miniseries on Amazon, and the collected edition is premiering without a volume number and with all eight issues. After his stellar work with the “Fantastic Four,” “Avengers,” and “X-Men,” you’d have hoped that Hickman’s efforts to introduce something completely new to the Marvel Universe would’ve been given more rope than this. As I’ve liked just about everything he’s written, I’m willing to bet I’ll feel even worse about that after reading the upcoming collected edition.
Wolverine #50: Finale of the “Sabretooth War” and of writer Benjamin Percy’s run on the title. With this, fifty issues of “X-Force” and five issues each of “X Lives of Wolverine” and “X Deaths of Wolverine,” I think that this means he’s written more issues in and of the Krakoan Age than any other writer. Good for him, even though what I’ve read of both titles hasn’t had me feeling invested enough to read through them all. Maybe once they’re all done and up on Marvel Unlimited it’ll be time for a re-appraisal.
Star Wars: The Phantom Menace 25th Anniversary Special: “Darth Vader’s” Greg Pak writes and “The Rise of Kylo Ren’s” Will Sliney illustrates this one-shot detailing never-before-seen stories about the movie’s characters set before, during, and after it. I understand that the prequel trilogy has seen a reappraisal in recent years; though, that strikes me as being more about the uneven quality of the sequel trilogy than anything else. I can only hope it tells Disney the value of having one consistent creative vision in a storyline, and that the person behind that vision can actually direct actors. That said, Pak strikes me as the right person for this job given his relentless quoting-from-the-text of these movies in his “Darth Vader” series.
Venom by Al Ewing (and Torunn Gronbekk) vol. 6: Wherein we’re told that Venom has teamed up with Toxin (a symbiote who debuted in a miniseries written by Peter Milligan and illustrated by Darick Robertson) to save Natasha Romanoff from being possessed by an all-new, all-horrifying symbiote. How horrifying is it? Remember how Venom used to have a thing for eating brains? Well, everything old is new again with this symbiote. We’re also told that Eddie Brock comes face-to-face with manifestations of his anger, hate, and wrath, and while such a generalization would normally have me concerned, Ewing has been doing solid work with this kind of stuff for this series. So I’m interested in seeing what he does here.
Uncanny Spider-Man: Fall of X: I was… concerned when I saw that the collected edition for this five-issue miniseries was being solicited with a $25 price point. It either meant that Marvel was pushing their extortionate “Immortal Thor” pricing onto this miniseries, or that something else was being included with it to push up the price point. The latter turns out to be the case that “X-Men Origins: Blue,” detailing the true origin of Nightcrawler, is being included here. While I think that $25 is still on the steep side for a 184-page collection, the good things I’ve heard about this Simon Spurrier-written miniseries and one-shot, along with it being the finale for his contributions to the Krakoan Era, mean that I’ll be picking it up in print regardless.
Sins of Sinister: Now in paperback. If you were waiting to read this story in this format, be sure it pick it up in May. It’s easily one of the highlights of the Krakoan Era and one of the best alternate-future “X-Men” stories ever written.
New X-Men Modern Era Epic Collection vol. 1: E is for Extinction, & Captain America Modern Era Epic Collection vol. 1: The Winter Soldier: A couple more collections of classic storylines whose reproduction in this format just – Wait for it! – makes me feel old. That said, there’s no denying their status as classics since elements introduced in both of these collections have continued to inform “X-Men” and “Captain America” comics to this day. So if you haven’t read either of these stories before now, pick them up here. Just be sure to stop after the last Grant Morrison-written arc “New X-Men,” “Here Comes Tomorrow,” and after either “Captain America: Reborn” or “Two Americas.” I’m speaking from experience here.