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March 2013 Marvel Comics Diamond Previews Review

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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.

 

Age of Ultron #7         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.

 

Age of Ultron #8         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.

 

Fearless Defenders #4AUAvengers Assemble #15AUUncanny Avengers #8AU         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.

 

Avengers #11         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         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.

 

All-New X-Men #11         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.

 

Iron Man #258.1 Iron Man #258.2 Iron Man #258.3 Iron Man #258.4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avengers - The Enemy Within #1         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.

 

Dark Avengers #190         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 TP vol 01         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.

February 2013 Marvel Comics Diamond Previews Review

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February 2013 Marvel Comics Diamond Previews Review

 

Hey guys! Let’s check out what Marvel has for us in April of 2013. Since Marvel Now launched I have been enjoying several of the titles, and the new direction for many of them. I have also felt that some of the roll out seemed rushed and not as solidly planned out. My second critique is the Age of Ultron crossover. It seems to be happening fairly early in the life of the Marvel Now initiative. As a long time fan of Marvel the crossover doesn’t seem so daunting but if Marvel Now is meant to draw in new readers, a crossover with the scope of Age of Ultron may have the opposite effect. No doubt it will sell, but it may also alienate new readers. This is just a personal opinion even though the fan in me is excited for this crossover.

 

Age of Ultron #4 Age of Ultron #5Age of Ultron #6    Speaking of Age of Ultron, there is no shortage of reading in May with issues 4, 5, and 6 of the main series hits shelves. Ultron #1AU

 

 

In addition to those issues we also get Ultron #1 AU which tells the story of Victor Mancha, the one time Runaway, and son of Ultron. I am looking forward to this book and think this will be one to watch.

 

Avengers Assemble #14AU Wolverine and X-Men #27AU          Avengers Assemble #14 AU, and Wolverine & the X-Men #27 AU also get into the Age of Ultron game showcasing the devastation that hit San Francisco, through the eyes of Black Widow, and Wolverine and the Invisible Woman visit the Avengers past.

 

Thanos Rising #1          Anticipation for Avengers 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy is already high and it will only get higher. Marvel is capitalizing on this with a five issue miniseries spotlighting the main villain coming soon to the Marvel Movie-verse, Thanos. Thanos Rising is by Jason Aaron (W), and Simone Bianchi (A) shows us how Thanos became the tyrant he is and how his past will shape the future of the Marvel Universe.

 

X-Men #1           The X-Men relaunches with a new #1 and a very publicized line up, all female. The roster is a who’s who of the X-Men women, including Storm (with her hottest look in years), Rogue, Psylocke, Shadowcat, Jubilee, and Rachel Summers. Brian Woods, who is one of my favorite writers, and I am sure many of you feel the same about him, and Olivier Coipel, who is one of the most striking artists on the stands, infuse new life into X-Men and I look forward to this book becoming a key book once again. Rumors abound that the real focus of this book will be Jubilee, and that has me excited.

 

Avengers #9 NOWAvengers #10 NOW          Over in the Avengers we meet a new Omega Flight team from Canada while the New Universe continues to get folded into the Marvel Universe proper. This relaunch of the Avengers has allot of promise but Jonathan Hickman needs to crank it up a notch because it feels like this title is not as tight as it could or should be. The pace seems uneven, but with Jonathan Hickman being one for layering story elements and really building a story from the ground up, I am going to stay with this book for the time being but changes need to happen soon.

 

Avengers Arena #7          When I started Avengers Arena I wondered where Arcade suddenly got his godlike powers from, but then I dropped the book because it seemed like a horrible riff on the Hunger Games, and Battle Royale. I don’t see myself coming back to the title but for those that have been patient the payoff is coming in issue #7 where we find out exactly how Arcade became the threat that he now is.

 

Fearless Defenders #3         Warrior Woman, a new character that looks like she should hop over to the Distinguished Competitions universe, and take up residence on Paradise Island, joins the Fearless Defenders. I appreciate the fact that Marvel has a hard time creating a long lasting book with a female lead but is trying the team route with both The Fearless Defenders, and The X-Men. Keep it up Marvel.

 

Young Avengers #4         Young Avengers #1 is one of my favorite titles in this relaunch, and a prime example of how to introduce a new book with established characters and still be new reader friendly while appreciating those that are coming onto the book who know the characters. Kieron Gillen is a writer who I am starting to take more notice of, and Journey Into Mystery, and Young Avengers are two of the reasons why.

 

Captain Marvel #12         Captain Marvel #12 kicks off a crossover with the Avengers. This usually means one thing, this is a last ditch effort to raise the profile of a book before possible cancellation. This is a shame because this is a really well done book. The art is solid and Kelly Sue Deconnick writes a realistic Carol, and she brings us into her world, not just during the superhero moments, but also Carols quietest moments in life.

 

X-Termination #2 Astonishing X-Men #61 XT           I assumed when X-Termination was announced that it was the death knell for any number of the titles involved, and I am still surprised that Astonishing X-Men survived.

 

 

 

Age of Apocalypse #14X-Treme X-Men #13          X-Treme X-Men is ending with issue #13, and Age of Apocalypse is ending with issue #14. They should have just brought back the Exiles.

 

 

Phase One Avengers Assembled Blue Ray box set

 

         Marvel Zombies everywhere will be eagerly anticipating April 2, 2013 when the Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One – Avengers Assembled collection is out. It includes all 6 movies in Phase One: Iron Man 1 and 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, and The Avengers, all on Blu-ray with Captain America, Thor, and The Avengers being released in Blu-ray 3D. It arrives in a very SHIELD looking briefcase, and even contains the Tesseract, well a facsimile of it anyway. A list price of $219.00 seems a steal for everything you get as part of this package. I cannot wait to see how they are going to release Phase 2!

 

Journey into Mystery featuring Sif vol 01         Some of the first Marvel Now trades start appearing on shelves in April, and there is one you should get if you haven’t been picking up the singles, Journey Into Mystery featuring Sif Vol. 1: Stronger than Monsters TPB by Kathryn Immonen (W) and Valerio Schiti (A). This is a strong female led book, that really shines the light on a character that has been deserving of more attention for awhile. It is obvious the creative team agrees and their appreciation of the character, and her world is evident in the writing, the art, and the covers by Jeffrey Becker.

 

That’s our look at Marvel for April 2013.