Marvel Previews Picks: May 2015
I have yet to watch the finale of “Agent Carter” as I sit down to write this. Given the “never quite as good as it should be” quality of “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” this event series has been more consistently entertaining and utilized its Marvel Universe setting in a far more satisfying way. While the whole “Peggy has to clear Howard Stark’s name” setup was good enough to get things going, the series has thrived by keeping its focus on the title character and her travails. From struggling against the sexism of the S.S.R., bantering with Jarvis, or diving into combat with the Howling Commandoes, Peggy has emerged as a fascinating character that I’d love to see more of in the future. Of course, that’s also due to how star Hayley Atwell nails just about every scene she’s in. While the series has done well by incorporating a lot of elements from the Marvel Universe here — in addition to the aforementioned Stark, Howling Commandoes, and Jarvis, we’ve also been introduced to the likes of Dr. Faustus and Leviathan here — there’s enough to the series that it doesn’t feel like it’s trading on them. That’s something it took “S.H.I.E.L.D.” until its second season to pull off well. No, the story being told in these eight episodes isn’t all that fresh, and most of the O.S.S. crew are just an assemblage of cliches, but I’ve actually been looking forward to each new episode instead of being annoyed at how watching TV leaves less time for games.
Meanwhile, “Secret Wars” gets underway in these latest solicitations. It’s the end of the Marvel Universe as we know it! For the next few months, anyway.
Secret Wars #’s 1&2: From Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic. If you’ve been reading the writer’s “Avengers” titles for the past few years, they’re going to reach their proper culmination here when the incursion of the Ultimate Universe into the regular Marvel Universe fails to be averted. (Also, totally called that.) What’s interesting is that it’s the second issue of this mini-series which is extra-sized at 56 pages here. Odd, but it’s that issue which will be explaining the whole “Battleworld” setup for the event, so apparently Hickman and Ribic needed the extra pages to make sure it comes off well here. Regardless of my excitement for the writer’s “Avengers/New Avengers” run, this is required reading for everyone who pays attention to the ongoing narrative of the Marvel Universe.
Ultimate End #1 (of 5): Of course, with any event comes the flood of tie-in series. A lot of the ones that won’t make it to the end of the event are getting branded as “Last Days” stories, except this one. I can only hope that its title means that they’re really pulling the plug on the once-awesome Ultimate imprint. There was a time when I bought EVERYTHING that came out of it. That effectively stopped with the “Ultimatum” event which was supposed to revitalize things, but was only memorable for its awfulness. I know it’s hard to imagine something being worse than “Cataclysm,” and I’ve never been interested in finding out if it is. Bendis and Bagley, the team who gave us over 110 great issues of “Ultimate Spider-Man,” and the aforementioned “Cataclysm” are driving the bus here. After their work on that series, I’m not expecting much here. Still, given their ability to create great dialogue-driven comics, I’m hoping that there’s less superhero action and more people going around and meeting the end of their universe in their own ways. A story like that would play far better to Bendis and Bagley’s strengths at any rate.
On a related note, the Ultimate Marvel Omnibus vol. 1 HC, collecting the first arcs of “Ultimate Spider-Man,” “Ultimate X-Men,” “The Ultimates,” and “Ultimate Fantastic Four” is solicited here as well. If you’ve never read any of the issues collected here, then this is worth picking up if only to see how good the imprint was back in its heyday.
Deadpool’s Secret Secret Wars #1 (of 4): That Deadpool has a miniseries tying into this event shouldn’t surprise anyone. Only… it’s not tying into this event! It’s all about the pivotal role that the Merc With a Mouth played in the original “Secret Wars” back in the 80’s. I give the concept points for cleverness if nothing else. It’s written by regular Deadpool miniseries-writer Cullen Bunn. So if you liked his work on those then this should be worth checking out as well. In the meantime, I should probably get around to checking them out at some point too.
Old Man Logan #1: In which Bendis shows Mark Millar how to properly do “Old Wolverine in a dystopian future.” At least, that’s what I’m hoping to see happen here.
Where Monsters Dwell #1 (of 5): Another way you can tell that the End Times have come to the Marvel Universe? Garth Ennis is writing a comic for this event. Granted, it’s something which is very much within his wheelhorse: WWI fighter ace Karl “Phantom Eagle” Kaufmann finds himself on a job which involves the transportation of a beautiful woman with secrets (™) through a dinosaur-infested landscape. The last time Ennis told a story involving dinosaurs was in the latter half of “Hitman” as a time-travel experiment gone wrong unleashed them on Gotham City. It was fantastic, but I think I’d be stupid to expect something as memorable here. I’ll keep my expectations low here: A solid adventure with some good laughs. That’s all I want.
A-Force #1: We’ve had an all-female X-Men team for a while, now it’s time for the Avengers to have one too. G. Willow Wilson and Margurite Bennett give us this “Secret Wars” tie-in which has the team fighting to protect the inhabitants of an island nation from all comers. It’s a solid enough premise, but given that Marvel have high hopes for this title — it was originally meant to be revealed on a recent episode of “The View” — it risks getting lost in the middle of the crossover and confusing potential new readers with the setup. Probably would’ve been best to hold off on wheeling this out until after the event when the inevitable “More All-Newer Marvel NOW!” hype kicks off.
Uncanny X-Men #600: The original numbering is being broken out again for a reason — this represents the end of Bendis’ run on “Uncanny” and “All-New.” While I’ve enjoyed his work, it hasn’t been quite as memorable as what we saw from the likes of Jason Aaron on “Wolverine and the X-Men” and Kieron Gillen on “Uncanny” as well. I’m still waiting for more volumes of his run on both titles to hit softcover, so there’s still time for things to improve to the point where I’m sad to see the writer go.
Ms. Marvel vol. 1 HC: Uh, no I still haven’t picked up the first volume of this series. This is in spite of the fact that I’ve heard nothing but good things about it and liked what I saw of Kamala Khan in vol. 2 of “Amazing Spider-Man.” Good thing for me this hardcover edition of the first two volumes is coming along so I can fix that!
Ant-Man vol. 1: Second Chance: Arriving with enough time to properly cash-in on the buildup to the movie. While I remember Scott Lang primarily as Jessica Jones’ boyfriend before she hooked up with Luke Cage, the fact that Nick Spencer is writing this new series makes me interested in checking it out. Of course, I’m also hoping that after a successful run on “The Superior Foes of Spider-Man” he’ll bring some of the irreverence of that title to the adventures of a man who can shrink down and control ants. Seems like a perfect fit if you ask me.