Marvel Penguin Picks: October 2023

Above-the-Board Recommendation:

Immortal X-Men vol. 3

Yeah, this is an obvious choice… but I really liked vol. 2.  It just did a great job of bringing Kieron Gillen’s run into focus while offering some real surprises, clever stories, and lots of Mister Sinister being a Complete/Silly/Magnificent Bastard.  Vol. 3 picks up after the “Sins of Sinister” event and the hope is that things are going to get better for everyone on the Quiet Council.  Unfortunately none of them can see past the Fourth Wall to learn that the next event they’re going to undergo is called “Fall of X.”  Sounds like fun.  Oh, and for anyone worried that this issue will be lacking in Mister Sinister-related content, it also collects the “Before the Fall:  Sinister Four” one-shot where Gillen will be writing ALL THE SINISTERS!

G.O.D.S. #1:  “WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE-POWERS-THAT-BE MEET THE-NATURAL-ORDER-OF-THINGS?” is what’s said at the top of the solicitation text here. There’s also a lot of little stuff mentioned that is likely to be relevant to this 64-page/$10 issue.  While that all-caps declaration certainly promises a lot, it’s coming from a team that can deliver:  Writer Jonathan Hickman and artist Valerio Schiti.  Hickman has shown that he can deliver epic stories within the Marvel Universe that not only respect continuity but also deliver new storytelling opportunities for creators to play off of.  This looks to be the first time he’s introducing something completely new to the Marvel Universe and my expectation is that it’ll be just as exciting as his runs on “Fantastic Four,” “Avengers,” and “X-Men” were.  However, if you’re hungering for the writer to take on more familiar stuff…

Ultimate Universe #1:  Following up on “Ultimate Invasion,” this one-shot is said to be the starting ground for a new line of Ultimate Comics.  For anyone who’s forgotten:  The original Ultimate Universe was an imprint formed at the turn of the millennium which imagined familiar Marvel properties like Spider-Man and the X-Men if they were created today.  It was insanely popular for a while and served to influence the Marvel Cinematic Universe while also giving us Miles Morales.  Hickman even worked on a few titles before sagging sales saw the writer tasked with wrapping up the universe at the start of “Secret Wars.”  I’ve got a lot of fond memories of that imprint and if Hickman has a reason to bring it back, I’m all for it.

Spider-Boy #1:  I’ve fallen behind on Dan Slott’s latest “Spider-Man” series, which this title is spinning out from.  It turns out that Spidey used to have a teen sidekick for a while and this was only brought to light as part of the “End of Spider-Verse” event.  Now that Spider-Boy is part of the 616 Marvel Universe, it looks like it’s time for him to start making a new history with the Ol’ Wall-Crawler.  Slott is writing this title with Paco Medina providing the art – a solid team indeed.  In the meantime, I guess it’s time for me to get caught up on “Spider-Man” so I can see where this Spider-Boy is coming from.

Marvel Zombies:  Black, White & Blood #1 (of 4):  Another property that’s fit for the “Black, White, & Blood” treatment gets its due.  It also has something that previous incarnations of this approach didn’t:  Garth Ennis.  That’s right, the writer whose contempt for the superhero genre is well-known by all is doing a story in this issue.  Anyone hoping for one where Frank Castle murders his way through super-zombies is going to be disappointed as the primary characters in this issue are noted to be Daredevil, Spider-Man, and Moon Knight.  The latter is the only one that Ennis hasn’t written before, so it’s possible that it’s Marc Spector’s turn to come off as incredibly dumb at Ennis’ hands.  Or maybe the writer is looking to have Daredevil and Spider-Man die horribly while failing those closest to them.  It could go either way, really.

Amazing Spider-Man #’s 35 & 36:  #35 comes with the interesting promise that this is going to set up the next 24 issues of the series.  It’s good to hear that writer Zeb Wells has a plan, but it appears to be a very dark one.  That’s because #36 says, “Spider-Man has never gone this dark.

  Now the consequences are unraveled.  Will New York ever look at him the same way again?”  Which, uh… Look, the reason I stopped buying the previous run of “Amazing” by Nick Spencer was because it got too dark and stopped being fun in the way I like my “Spider-Man” stories to be.  The vibe I’m getting here is that the same thing is about to happen to Wells’ run, only a lot sooner.  Which means that my decision to follow it on Marvel Unlimited rather than in print was the right call after all.

Venom #26 & 27:  Torunn Gronbekk takes over for two (or more) issues as Natasha Romanoff has a close encounter with some symbiotes.  The issue says that this is following up on the events of issue #23, which is weird since #25 was solicited as the big anniversary issue where everything changes.  Misprint or no, expect to see what happens when the Black Widow merges with an all-new symbiote.

Superior Spider-Man Returns #1:  Slott again, teaming with Mark Bagley and a few artists who lent their skills to the original “Superior” series:  Giuseppe Camuncoli, Humberto Ramos, and Ryan Stegman.  This is solicited as a one-shot marking the ten-year anniversary of the storyline, which would imply that this is a collection of untold stories from it.  However, the solicitation text mentions that this 48-page/$7 issue is one story, so your guess is as good as mine.  It’s still something I’ll be checking out when it hits Marvel Unlimited.

Fantastic Four #12:  I’d be very surprised if current writer Ryan North didn’t write this solicitation himself.  See for yourself:

  • What happens when a parallel world starts out different from our own but, through random chance and development, begins to resemble our Earth more and more closely? And what happens when those two universes begin to merge not just in style, but literally?
  • It’s a fascinating scientific question that the Fantastic Four will have to consider as they swap places with their counterparts in this other world and find themselves battling for survival in the universe where everyone is a dinosaur, and not anthropomorphic ones, but literal full-scale dinosaurs with all their super-powers, wearing amazing super-hero costumes!
  • Can Sue Storm defeat Brachiosaurus Iron Man? Can the Human Torch take down Lambeosaurus Captain Marvel, her head frill mimicking her human counterpart’s spiked hair? Can Reed Richards ever stop Quetzalcoatlus Black Widow, the deadly assassin of the skies?
  • Beyond the dinosaurs and chaos and two universes merging, this issue also features emotional and heartfelt reunions with some missing members of the Fantastic Four family! So: Dinosaurs and catharsis, together at last.
  • Plus: Sue Storm’s doctorate is finally revealed!

Bravo, Ryan.  Bravo.  If I wasn’t already reading this series I’d have to start.