Henry10MARVEL'S APRIL SOLICITATIONS
January 17th 2007 09:13
It's that time of the month again folks: Marvel has revealed it's product for April (thus dictating what comics I'll be reading on my honeymoon!) and let me say there are no surprises - Civil War is *still* rolling on...
The first thing that springs to the eye is tha the following titles are all CLASSIFIED INFORMATION: Avengers: The Initiative #1, Black Panther #27, Fantastic Four #545, Iron Man #17, Ms. Marvel #14, New Avengers #29, and She-Hulk #18. Nothing in the solicitations except for the creator credits and some cover previews. The reason is obvious - they're trying to keep the SHOCK ENDING!!!! of Civil War a secret. But perhaps with some deductive reasoning and diligent clue-scraping and utter bullshittery, we can put together a reasonable stab at future events...
We've got the debut of AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, a six-issue miniseries by Dan Slott. According to this interview the book is about what happens to all the heroes who have signed the Superhuman Registration Act, and the fact that they've basically signed a draft - they work for the government now whether they like it or not. Slott hasn't put a foot wrong at Marvel ever since his return to the scene with She-Hulk, so I'm looking forward to this book. What this means, though, is that the Registration Act will still be in place in some form after Civil War finishes, regardless of who wins.
CLUE #2: The CIVIL WAR: FALLEN SON miniseries, by Jeph Loeb. Loeb ranges from pretty good to staggeringly awful, but that's beside the point. It's a five issue miniseries that deals with the aftermath of a death in Civil War - the death of a supposedly major character (i.e. more significant than Black Goliath). Each issue focuses on a single character, and deals with one of the five stages of grief. This month we get "Stage 1: Denial" starring Wolverine, and "Stage 2: Anger" starring the New Avengers. According to Joe Quesada, Issue #3 stars Captain America, #4 stars Spider-Man, and #5 is a secret because revealing it would blow the whole thing. So someone dies, and we can probably cross Wolverine, Cap and Spidey off the list.
BUT WAIT! Here we have CIVIL WAR: THE CONFESSION #1, and it's preview image showing Cap's bloodied shield. The obvious implication is that Cap dies, though I wouldn't write off the possibility that it's Cap who does the killing. The plot of this issue sees two as-yet-unknown Marvel characters meeting up to talk about the aftermath of Civil War, and it's done by Brian Bendis. The guy can still write entertaining conversation scenes, so this ought to play to his (dwindling) strengths.
So who dies? Time to narrow down the list.
We can write off all of the X-Men for starters. None of them have played a major role in Civil War, and Wolverine is clearly alive in the aftermath.
Spider-Man looks to be around in Civil War: Fallen Son, and he's also named as Peter Parker in the descriptions for his own books, so I'd say he's safe. Also, there's a little film called Spider-Man 3 out at around this time - not a very good month to be killing off your flagship character.
There are two Avengers teams in the Civil War aftermath, and the line-ups are pretty much revealed. For Mighty Avengers, we've got the following: Ms. Marvel, the Sentry, Black Widow, Wonder Man, the Wasp, Ares, and Iron Man. So all these are safe (though it may not be Tony Stark under the Iron Man armour...). For New Avengers, we know 5 members - Echo, Ronin, Doctor Strange, Wolverine, and Spider-Woman. So they're all out as well.
Over in Fantastic Four land, the possibilities are a bit more intriguing. As shown here and here, the Human Torch and the Thing are still members. But there's no sign of Reed, and there's no sign of Sue. Both of them are on the chopping block.
Of the other major long-time characters: Daredevil is out of the Civil War, Thor is just about to *return* from being dead, and Hank Pym is a possibility who doesn't really fit the 'beloved' requirement.
And so, my Top Four candidates:
CAPTAIN AMERICA: I know he's in an issue of Civil War: Fallen Son, but I can't stop thinking of that bloody shield. And there's nothing to guarantee that the star of that issue will be Steve Rogers - I keep thinking that Bucky will be taking up the mantle if Cap bites it. It's one of the deaths that would have the most meaning for Civil War, so I think it's a definite outside chance.
IRON MAN/TONY STARK: Another big contender. Iron Man has been shown to be a member of the Mighty Avengers, but it might not be Tony. Again his death would have a big impact for Civil War, as he's been the main instigator of the whole thing. The big stumbling block here is that Iron Man has a movie coming out, but further research indicates it's not out until 2008. A very big possibility, though it would be a shame now that he's actually interesting again.
REED or SUE RICHARDS: Both big possibilities, and both have played big roles in Civil War. Either of their deaths would have an impact on the wider Marvel Universe, but... I'm just not feeling it. Again there's the movie thing, and I also feel that keeping them alive at the moment has more story potential than killing one off.
So I'm thinking at the moment that it will be Cap. Just a hunch.
The first thing that springs to the eye is tha the following titles are all CLASSIFIED INFORMATION: Avengers: The Initiative #1, Black Panther #27, Fantastic Four #545, Iron Man #17, Ms. Marvel #14, New Avengers #29, and She-Hulk #18. Nothing in the solicitations except for the creator credits and some cover previews. The reason is obvious - they're trying to keep the SHOCK ENDING!!!! of Civil War a secret. But perhaps with some deductive reasoning and diligent clue-scraping and utter bullshittery, we can put together a reasonable stab at future events...
We've got the debut of AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, a six-issue miniseries by Dan Slott. According to this interview the book is about what happens to all the heroes who have signed the Superhuman Registration Act, and the fact that they've basically signed a draft - they work for the government now whether they like it or not. Slott hasn't put a foot wrong at Marvel ever since his return to the scene with She-Hulk, so I'm looking forward to this book. What this means, though, is that the Registration Act will still be in place in some form after Civil War finishes, regardless of who wins.
CLUE #2: The CIVIL WAR: FALLEN SON miniseries, by Jeph Loeb. Loeb ranges from pretty good to staggeringly awful, but that's beside the point. It's a five issue miniseries that deals with the aftermath of a death in Civil War - the death of a supposedly major character (i.e. more significant than Black Goliath). Each issue focuses on a single character, and deals with one of the five stages of grief. This month we get "Stage 1: Denial" starring Wolverine, and "Stage 2: Anger" starring the New Avengers. According to Joe Quesada, Issue #3 stars Captain America, #4 stars Spider-Man, and #5 is a secret because revealing it would blow the whole thing. So someone dies, and we can probably cross Wolverine, Cap and Spidey off the list.
BUT WAIT! Here we have CIVIL WAR: THE CONFESSION #1, and it's preview image showing Cap's bloodied shield. The obvious implication is that Cap dies, though I wouldn't write off the possibility that it's Cap who does the killing. The plot of this issue sees two as-yet-unknown Marvel characters meeting up to talk about the aftermath of Civil War, and it's done by Brian Bendis. The guy can still write entertaining conversation scenes, so this ought to play to his (dwindling) strengths.
So who dies? Time to narrow down the list.
We can write off all of the X-Men for starters. None of them have played a major role in Civil War, and Wolverine is clearly alive in the aftermath.
Spider-Man looks to be around in Civil War: Fallen Son, and he's also named as Peter Parker in the descriptions for his own books, so I'd say he's safe. Also, there's a little film called Spider-Man 3 out at around this time - not a very good month to be killing off your flagship character.
There are two Avengers teams in the Civil War aftermath, and the line-ups are pretty much revealed. For Mighty Avengers, we've got the following: Ms. Marvel, the Sentry, Black Widow, Wonder Man, the Wasp, Ares, and Iron Man. So all these are safe (though it may not be Tony Stark under the Iron Man armour...). For New Avengers, we know 5 members - Echo, Ronin, Doctor Strange, Wolverine, and Spider-Woman. So they're all out as well.
Over in Fantastic Four land, the possibilities are a bit more intriguing. As shown here and here, the Human Torch and the Thing are still members. But there's no sign of Reed, and there's no sign of Sue. Both of them are on the chopping block.
Of the other major long-time characters: Daredevil is out of the Civil War, Thor is just about to *return* from being dead, and Hank Pym is a possibility who doesn't really fit the 'beloved' requirement.
And so, my Top Four candidates:
CAPTAIN AMERICA: I know he's in an issue of Civil War: Fallen Son, but I can't stop thinking of that bloody shield. And there's nothing to guarantee that the star of that issue will be Steve Rogers - I keep thinking that Bucky will be taking up the mantle if Cap bites it. It's one of the deaths that would have the most meaning for Civil War, so I think it's a definite outside chance.
IRON MAN/TONY STARK: Another big contender. Iron Man has been shown to be a member of the Mighty Avengers, but it might not be Tony. Again his death would have a big impact for Civil War, as he's been the main instigator of the whole thing. The big stumbling block here is that Iron Man has a movie coming out, but further research indicates it's not out until 2008. A very big possibility, though it would be a shame now that he's actually interesting again.
REED or SUE RICHARDS: Both big possibilities, and both have played big roles in Civil War. Either of their deaths would have an impact on the wider Marvel Universe, but... I'm just not feeling it. Again there's the movie thing, and I also feel that keeping them alive at the moment has more story potential than killing one off.
So I'm thinking at the moment that it will be Cap. Just a hunch.
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Comment by JoshZ
It was a good death by the way. I might have to start buying some of these books.
Dude, I bought Watchmen recently.
Loved it.
JZ
p.s. thanks for coming around not so long ago. Always good to see you.
Comment by Nathan P. Mahney
NerdBlog
I have the entirety of the Earth X trilogy sitting in my room at the moment, awaiting some free time. Now I know the ending, though *grumblegrumble*