Tag Archives: age of ultron

April 2013 Marvel Comics Diamond Previews Review

          We now turn our attention to Marvel Comics and their items shipping in June of 2013. The big story is of course the finale of the first crossover event of the Marvel Now era. The last two issues of Age of Ultron, #9 and #10, hit the shelves. We have already heard about the insertion of the hotly contested, one time Spawn character, Angela, into the Marvel Universe, including involvement from Neil Gaiman, the characters creator, but there is apparently another surprise even bigger, in the works. One of my guesses is the appearance, finally, of Marvelman/Miracleman in the Marvel Universe. June will be an exciting month at the House of Ideas.

          A title that has garnered alot of recent attention, since it’s announcement, is an Avengers title. I know that another Avengers title is not normally a reason to get excited since there are plenty to choose from, but Avengers A.I.  returns robots to the forefront of the Marvel Universe. The line up of this team has me curious with Ultron’s son from the Runaways, a Doombot, Vision, and more making up this Pym led squad of Avengers. Age of Ultron #10 A.I. will redefine the role of Pym in the Marvel Universe and it is virtually guaranteed that this will be the kick off to the new Avengers series.

        Over in the Avengers we begin the road to Infinity. Issue #14 of the series by Jonathan Hickman (W), Nick Spencer (W), and Stefano Caselli (A) brings us the official prelude. A.I.M. continues  to be a thorn in the side of the Avengers and go even further with the unveiling of the S7 program, while the Earth begins to communicate with something much older than us. After several issues the team is starting to gel and while the cast is immense the creative team is definitely giving each member a moment to shine. If you pick up only one Avengers book this is the one that should be coming home with you.

       While I appreciate the writing of Dan Slott, issue #12 of Superior Spider-Man relies on something we have seen multiple times and that is the hero locked in a super-villain prison with those the hero placed there. Again it’s the Raft (how is that place still operational?), this time the cast of trapped civilians includes Jonah, Glory, and Norah.

       Dale Eaglesham is providing some top notch art on Iron Man and the preview pages in #11, written by Kieron Gillen, might be enough for me to check out this book, for the “Secret Origin of Tony Stark” storyline.

       Sam Humphries writes Uncanny X-Force #6 & 7, with a TBA artist (I get worried when creative teams are TBA this close to release), and brings us a Fantomex centric story. Since the character has been split into three I have been wanting a story that details their relationship with Betsy’s, and it looks like this will be that story. We still have Bishop running around but my interest in him as a character is miniscule to begin with. For me Fantomex is the draw!

       I may pick up Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #24 for three reasons, Cloak, Dagger, and the Ultimate take on Power Pack. Brian Michael Bendis (W) has a great knack not just for finding a natural voice for the characters but also reintroducing characters, and concepts, in a fresh way, and not an expected way.

       I left Wolverine and the X-Men shortly after the first year of stories but issue #31 by Jason Aaron (W) and Nick Bradshaw (A) begins a storyline that may pull me back in. The Hellfire Club, the current lineup introduced during the first year, makes their move, and starts their own school, The Hellfire Academy. With a faculty composed of some of the deadliest mutants on Earth, and a student body taken from the Jean Grey School, this story promises conflicts galore, especially when Wolverine is on the hunt to get the kidnapped students back before they cross the line and enter a life of villainy.

       June also sees the first two parts of a six part storyline in X-Factor #257 & 258. “The End of X-Factor” promises big changes for the team of mutant detectives. If this truly is the end of the team it is appropriate that Peter David writes the closing chapter. With the small but loyal fan following of this book has I would be surprised to see it disappear entirely, instead I could see it getting a late Marvel Now relaunch with Peter David still helming, one would hope.

       One of comics best kept secrets ends in June with the 13th issue of Fury Max – Garth Ennis (W) and Goran Parlov (A) . This book is one of the best war comics I have read, and that says alot since the war genre is one that never interests me. Garth finds a voice for Fury that is believable from the beginning and this is a Fury I would love to see in the mainstream Marvel Universe. If you haven’t been picking this up it is worth getting the back issues for, or even waiting for the trade, which I am hoping is oversized.

These are the highlights from Marvel in June. See you soon when we look at the back of the book for all of the other publishers offerings.