March 2013 Marvel Comics Diamond Previews Review
The March issue of Previews is out now and it lists everything shipping in May. This means it is time to dive in and see what comic book related merchandise will be making a dent in our bank accounts. We will start with Marvel.
Marvel Now is no longer the big news. Ultron has become the word of the day, or really the word of a three month period, as Age of Ultron continues on. I am excited to see Carlos Pacheco providing art on this title. I have been a fan of his since his JLA run with Grant Morrison, then his Avengers Forever work blew me away. I cannot wait to see him loose in the Marvel Universe again.
Issue #7 (of 10) of the Age of Ultron shows yet another Marvel Universe, this time created by two Marvel heroes. I am not sure what the goal of this second Earth is, but I look forward to finding out. I do have a slight concern that they are attempting to pack too much into this storyline. Issue #8 is also coming out in May.
There are a couple of Age of Ultron tie ins coming our way in May. Fearless Defenders is taking advantage of the crossover to boost sales no doubt as Fearless Defenders #4AU comes our way, joining Avengers Assemble #15AU, and Uncanny Avengers #8AU. Avengers Assemble finds Ms. Marvel teaming up with Captain Britain trying to save whats left of London, while in Uncanny the Apocalypse Twins lets their presence be known. I am a fan of this type of tie in numbering. It allows the individual series to continue on without being paused because of a crossover, which has always irked many comic book fans.
I admit that I was wavering after issue #2 of the Avengers, would I keep it or remove it from my pull list. I decided to try a couple of more issues. I am a fan of Hickman but have to remember it is all about the build up and the intertwined story layers, and then came issue #6, the issue spotlighting the origin, or parts of the origin, for the new Captain Universe. I am hooked. I want to explore this Captain Universe more, and find out more about who she was before, and why she was running, and was the accident really an accident? So many questions and I intend to stay a reader until I have all my answers. I hope I have even more questions by then. Avengers #11 focuses on Shang Chi. Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Spider-Woman, Cannonball, and Sunspot join in the adventure at one of the fanciest casino’s in Hong Kong.
Avengers #12 brings Hyperion and Captain Universe to the Savage Land, along with Spider-Man, Thor and Hawkeye. Hong Kong, the Savage Land and at least 11 Avengers, in one month? Yes please. Hickman tried his best at the team coming together type of story but it was uneven at best. He seems to have his groove on finally.
If there is any star that shines brighter than all others out of all of the Marvel Now titles it is Bendis’s All-New X-Men, and issue #11 is a game changer as one of the original X-Men joins Cyclops and his crew.
We get an opportunity to revisit Iron Man during Armor Wars II from the creative team that helped define Tony Stark and his suited alter ego. Issues 258.1 – 258.4 bring us an untold story and if the art is correct we get to see Stingray, a character that I think is horribly under used. Fans of Armor Wars II should check this out, I will be.
Avengers: The Enemy Within (a.k.a. BUY CAPTAIN MARVEL) begins with a #1 issue. DeConnick is a wonderful writer Captain Marvel is a book that more people should be reading. Captain Marvel cannot do the one thing she loves the most, fly. With her ego at it’s lowest point she has to join the Avengers in confronting remnants of the teams past which are popping up all over Manhattan. This is worth taking a look at for fans of the characters, the writer, or fun superhero comics in general.
The book that seemed to have no direction, or impact, and a false numbering pedigree, comes to an end in Dark Avengers #190. The relevance of that title ended when Dark Reign came to a close. Jeff Parker is a very competent writer but that never was apparent in this title. Hopefully he can find his voice on his next Marvel project.
A couple of collections of note are coming our way in May. The first is the 10th Anniversary Edition HC of the Neil Gaiman (W) and Andy Kubert (A) masterpiece Marvel 1602. This collects the eight issues of the original series that tells the tale of our favorite Marvel heroes during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, over 400 years ago. It is impressive when a book stands up to time as well as this one has. I am excited to add this to my collection.
Spider-Man 2099 Vol. 1 TPB is back in print, which means his character should be impacting the main marvel universe very soon. Peter David has many runs of note but this is one of my favorites. The art team of Rick Leonardi and Kelley Jones brings Peter’s words to life with this collection of the first 10 issues of the book. This is a deep and multi layered look at corrupt governments which are in turn controlled by mega-corporations. This will be living on bookshelf in May.
Now that the dust has settled for the most part I am not sure if Marvel Now delivered. I am collecting less Marvel now then prior to the change. At the end of the day the important things are the numbers. If it has boosted sales for the line, that is good for the whole industry, as the New 52 launch proved, regardless of my feelings. I may not like everything that is published but it would be a pretty boring industry if everything was the same, and everyone liked the same thing, our hobby would be a pretty boring one.
See you soon when we take a look at DC Comics and their May offerings.