Marvel Penguin Picks: September 2024
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
Ultimate X-Men vol. 1: Fears & Hates
Of all the titles in the current lineup of “Ultimate” comics, this is the one that appears to deviate the most from what you’d expect. Not just because of the softer, almost manga-esque look writer/artist Peach Momoko brings to it, but because she’s also bringing in some brand-new characters to this version of the “X-Men” as well. While Hisako “Armor” Ikichi is a familiar face to longtime readers, the one new character mentioned here – Maystorm – looks to be brand new, and more like her are promised. Add in the title’s reported focus on body horror and you have a series that looks to offer something fresh while still staying within the superhero paradigm. If that’s the case, and this turns out to be a good read, then maybe we’ll see similar experiments within the line for future titles. Which would be a good thing.
While we’re talking about the “X-Men”…
Wolverine #1: Former “Miles Morales” and current “Daredevil” writer Saladin Ahmed takes over Ol’ Canucklehead’s solo adventures with “Immortal Thor” artist Martin Coccolo in tow. What’s promised here sounds very much like business as usual with the title character’s latest attempt at finding a measure of peace in the wilderness being shattered by the re-emergence of an old enemy, and the sudden appearance of a new one. Fair enough. The only thing of note here is that Marvel appears to be lampshading what they believe to be important about this new series with, “Collector’s Note: A key FIRST APPEARANCE and a major addition to the lore of Wolverine in this issue!” in the solicitation text. They’re usually never this specific, and while that doesn’t make anything about this solicitation any more credible, it is the most interesting thing about it to me.
Exceptional X-Men #1: The Kate Pryde/Emma Frost-focused series of the relaunch from writer Eve Ewing and artist Carmen Carnero. I’d be more interested in this if the solicitation text didn’t play up the “BOY HOWDY, KATE SURE ISN’T GOING TO LEAD A NEW TEAM OF YOUNG X-MEN, ISN’T SHE?” angle. Which isn’t believable for a second even before we’re told, “KATE PRYDE LEADS A TEAM OF ALL-NEW X-MEN!” right above it. I’ve not read anything from Ewing to have an opinion on whether or not this is going to be any good, but the solicitation does this series no favors.
Marvel Zombies: Dawn of Decay #1 (of 4): Wherein Groot gets sick and sparks a new outbreak of the titular creatures, with only the Hulk to back him up. Sure, why not. This comes to us from a creative team that’s completely unfamiliar to me: Writer Thomas Krajewski and artist Jason Muhr. So it’s not immediately obvious as to whether or not they’ll take the frankly silly premise of this miniseries and run with it in the kind of creative and disgusting ways that made the original miniseries a hit. Possible? Yes. Likely? Ehhhhhhhh…
Wolverine: Revenge #2 (of 5): The bare-bones setup of “Wolverine” seeking revenge and being written by Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by Greg Capullo gets a little more fleshed out here. As in we’re told that Sabretooth, Omega Red, and Deadpool are the ones Wolverine is seeking revenge against. While it’s not hard to imagine the first two doing something to warrant such extreme sanctioning, one does have to wonder how Deadpool fits into this. Whatever he did to contribute here is probably less overtly malicious, and can be filed away under “Seemed like a good idea at the time,” in his warped brain.
Wolverine: Venom War #1 (of 3): This round of solicitations isn’t just chock full of “Wolverine” comics, it’s also filled to the brim with “Venom War” tie-ins. In addition to checking both of these boxes, this miniseries also marks the Marvel debut of the “Local Man” co-writing team of Tim Seely and Tony Fleecs. This miniseries sees Logan looking to a dark chapter from his past to deal with the symbiote infestation of today. So it’s kind of like how each issue of “Local Man’s” first arc featured a flashback to Jack Xaver’s 90’s-as-hell superhero history. Tenuous as the connection may be, let’s hope that they leave the angst of their creator-owned series behind and give us the mindless, balls-out action story the protagonist of that series would’ve killed to be in.
Star Wars: The Acolyte – Kelnacca #1: The Wookiee Jedi Master Kelnacca of the currently-airing series on Disney+ gets his own one-shot. Which promises to do more with his character here than they did on that series. I mean, nothing against the series itself but it’s a low bar to clear if you’ve been watching “The Acolyte.” This comes to us from “High Republic” comics writer Cavan Scott and artist Marika Cresta, and given what I’ve read of Scott’s comics in this era, it’s entirely possible he may trip in trying to clear that low bar.
Star Wars #50 & Darth Vader #50: Both series are ending with these anniversary issues and the “Star Wars” line as a whole is preparing to transition to the post-”Return of the Jedi” period in the next relaunch. Which will be interesting to see as, outside of “The Mandalorian,” this period has been relatively unexplored in the current “Star Wars” continuity. That said, while both series have generally been enjoyable, they never quite hit the heights that their previous incarnations did while covering the post-”A New Hope” era. Charles Soule and Greg Pak have told some good stories in their respective titles but they’ve also told some pretty “meh” ones as well, with art that’s generally been a step down from what we got previously. Still, the hope is that they’ll finish strong enough to have us reflecting positively on their work here as a whole.
Blood Hunt: Or, the Marvel Universe vs. Vampires, brought to you by writer Jed MacKay and artist Pepe Larraz. This event series is currently being serialized right now and has featured at least one big twist that’s either a giant fake-out, or is going to be reversed sometime after its conclusion. You may also remember that “Blood Hunt” is being serialized in two versions, a regular one and a polybagged one with extra gory pages. Going by the fact that there’s no Parental Advisory in the solicitation text here, it looks like the extra-gory pages aren’t going to be collected here. So if you want your extreme superhero on vampire violence, you’re going to have to track down the polybagged issues. Which will certainly cost you more than the $20 cover price for this collection and provide no meaningful additional story content in the process.
Fantastic Four by Ryan North vol. 4: Fortune Favors the Fantastic: Meanwhile, over in this latest collection from North’s run, Reed Richards tries to solve the problem of the vampire outbreak. I’m sure he does, but I have a feeling it won’t have any meaningful impact on the crossover. That’s not all this volume has to offer as Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm get part time jobs to raise some money, Alicia Masters becomes a hard-boiled detective in a noir pastiche, and we find out Franklin Richards’ secret. What has the (former) mutant with godlike powers been hiding all this time? I’ve got no clue, but I have a feeling North has an answer that will make it worthwhile.
Star Wars Legends: The New Republic vol. 8: Collecting the three “New Jedi Order” miniseries “Invasion,” “Rescues,” and “Revelations,” plus some other odds-and-ends from the same period. While my interest in reading “Star Wars” books fell off around the time this era started (“The New Republic is under attack again? From ANOTHER unstoppable alien race?”) I remember these comics being better than I expected them to be. While they had great art from the always reliable Colin Wilson, they were also written by a writer who went on to better things after these miniseries: Tom Taylor. He didn’t write “Star Wars” comics again until the “Age of Resistance” one-shots at Marvel, but that was the franchise’s loss.