Marvel Previews Picks: June 2021
Above-the-Board Recommendation:
King in Black/Venom by Donny Cates vol. 6
When I started reading Cates’ run on “Venom” I was just expecting it to be good. What I was not expecting was a retcon of the character’s history that tied it to an Old God of the Marvel Universe, who was now awake and coming for Earth. Oh, and the writer also gave Eddie Brock a son he didn’t know he had while also taking him down some of the darkest real estate around: His memories. This blending of cosmic and human stakes is something that Cates has done extremely well over the course of his career and he’s continued that to mostly great effect with “Venom.” Which I’m expecting to see wrap up in quality fashion as the main event takes place in “King in Black” while the writer fills in the gaps with vol. 6 and delivers the actual finale to his run with artist Ryan Stegman.
Planet-Sized X-Men #1: Because “Giant-Size” is SO played out after all these years. We’re kind of back in event territory after “X of Swords” as this issue kicks off the “Hellfire Gala” storyline. Actually, it is the whole storyline. Rather than tell a multi-part story sequentially told across all of the titles in the line, “Planet-Size,” written by Gerry Duggan with art from Pepe Larraz, is giving us the main part of the Gala and the other titles will just be giving their cast’s perspectives on it. Which sounds like a really neat and unobtrusive way to tell a story revolving around the event as it gives each creative team plenty of latitude to find a way to tell their story. So if, say, Nightcrawler, Mister Sinister, and Beast, want to debate the various ethical imbroglios they’re currently a part of, Simon Spurrier, Zeb Wells, and Benjamin Percy can team up to write it and then show how it proceeds in each of their titles. Really, I’m looking forward to seeing how Sinister gets involved with anyone at this Gala as his trolling and seeing him be trolled is simply THE BEST.
Cable #12: The one X-title this month which isn’t tying into the Hellfire Gala. Why? Because it’s ending with this issue. Whether it’s due to low sales or because writer Gerry Duggan is finishing the story he set out to tell, I couldn’t tell you. I liked the first couple issues, but it didn’t strike me as a series that I’d want to collect in print. I’ll likely finish reading this on Marvel Unlimited and make a mention of whether or not it was worth reading here if the opportunity presents itself.
Predator #1: You knew it was coming. Writer Ed Brisson and artist Kev Walker inaugurate the Marvel era of the galaxy’s most dangerous hunter by flipping the script on the character’s standard premise. Instead of a Predator doing the hunting, one is being hunted by the woman whose family it killed. This all sounds fine to me so I’ll probably check it out at some point. It’s also worth noting that this is set far enough in the future to allow for space travel, which will naturally facilitate crossovers with…
Alien #4: From the solicitation text, “A BISHOP MAKES HIS MOVE.” As a longtime fan of the films, reading this makes me go, “HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM…”
…and then I read a review of the first issue today which mentioned that the main character has a Bishop-type android as his therapist. Which makes this solicitation text sound considerably less interesting than when I first read it.
Gamma Flight #1 (of 5): The team that was initially formed to take on the Immortal Hulk now finds itself fugitives from all humanity after siding with him. Which makes a certain amount of sense, but is a pretty vague setup for a miniseries. That said, “Immortal Hulk” writer Al Ewing is co-writing this series with Crystal Fraser, with Lan Medina on art, and Ewing’s involvement is enough to get me interested. Especially with the new status quo he’s given to Leonard “Doc Sasquatch” Samson, and the description of a “horribly changed Rick Jones.” I mean, I know what he looked like the last time we saw him. Does that mean they’ve left him that way?
Captain America #30: Ta-Nehisi Coates wraps up his run on the title. While we’re promised a fight against the Red Skull for all the marbles, that’s not what I’m looking forward to seeing. Sure, seeing a deathless Nazi getting punched in the face is always good for a laugh, but I’d reather see Alexa Lukin get what’s coming to her. Since the start of Coates’ run, she’s been pulling all the strings with little to no consequence or struggle. So if Peggy Carter can’t punch her in the face, I’ll settle for Sharon, or Misty Night, or Toni Ho, or ANYONE, really.
Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #1 (of 5): In which we’re promised a last-page reveal that “will blow this Death Star-sized story wide open.” They’re taking Han Solo out of the carbonite for this story, aren’t they? It’s the obvious choice, after all. That said, Charles Soule is writing this, and he’s done a decent job with stories that have had dubious premises before (see “The Death of Wolverine”). So even if everyone’s favorite scoundrel is getting unfrozen for this story, I’ve got a feeling that Soule has an interesting plan for freezing him back up again.
Black Panther Book 9: The Intergalactic Empire of Wakanda Part Four: Meanwhile, Coates’ longest-running series comes to a proper end. N’Jadaka took everything from T’Challa once, and that was his mistake. By leaving the King of Wakanda alive, N’Jadaka was just giving him the chance to come back and settle the score. Regular artist Daniel Acuna is joined by Ryan Bodenheim and the original artist of Coates’ run, Brain Stelfreeze, to give this series the artistic sendoff it deserves.
Star Wars: Doctor Aphra vol. 2 — The Engine Job: Vol. 1 was a decent enough exercise in ticking all the boxes you’d expect to be associated with a “Doctor Aphra” story. Now it’s time to see if new writer Alyssa Wong can bring something genuinely new to the character. The writer is looking to build off the events of the first story as Domina Tagge is now out to get the Doctor after what she did to her brother. Naturally Domina has put a bounty on Aphra’s head, and that’s attracted a lot of hunters, including the latter’s ex, Sana Staros. Aphra has a plan to get everyone off her back, and it involves finding another ancient piece of tech. This time, on Corellia. I’m sure it’ll be fine, even if the setup sounds pretty standard-issue.
Ultimates by Al Ewing: The Complete Collection: One more example of the good work Ewing did before hitting it big with “Immortal Hulk.” That said, it’s a bit more uneven than what we got in titles like “Loki: Agent of Asgard” and “New Avengers.” This is because the art is pretty uneven across the 22 issues collected here. It starts off strong with Kenneth Rocafort, but then we get some strikingly incongruent work from Djibril Morrissette-Phan in the middle of it. Christian Ward contributes two issues, with the first looking markedly better than the second. Travel Foreman contributes most of the art for the volume’s second half, even if his work is an acquired taste. I’d say this is still worth it for the $45 cover price, after you’ve checked out the other titles from the writer mentioned here.