MARVEL SOLICITATIONS FOR FEBRUARY 2008
November 21st 2007 05:12
Holy crap, is it that time of the month already? Yes indeed, time once again for me to get some cheap content, courtesy of Marvel's Solicitations. Let's take a gander at the highlights of what they have to offer us in a few months time.
CLANDESTINE #1 (of 5)
Written and Pencilled by ALAN DAVIS
OK, so I never did read the original series from the mid-90s, and to be honest I have no idea what it is even about. A very brief look at their Wikipedia entry indicates that they are kind of a family of superheroes, all of whom have the same ancestor - an immortal guy who fought in the Crusades and married a genie. That sounds pretty cool to me, and when you add in Alan Davis it's even better. He's a good writer, and bar none the best superhero penciller in today's industry who is capable of maintaining a monthly schedule.
FANTASTIC FOUR #554
Written by MARK MILLAR and Pencilled by BRYAN HITCH
Hells yes. I love the Fantastic Four, absolutely LOVE them, but unfortunately I haven't loved their comic in a good long while. I also love Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch (on a purely non-sexual level of course), and all of their recent work has been top-notch. Millar penned some completely awesome FF scenes during his Wolverine arc, and his Ultimate FF was super-cool. The only reservations I have with his writing of the FF stem from Civil War - basically, he writes Reed as a massive dick. Provided that that doesn't carry over to this run, I expect this title to be one of Marvel's very best next year. At the very least it will look gorgeous.
FANTASTIC FOUR: THE LOST ADVENTURE
Written by STAN LEE and Pencilled by JACK KIRBY
So here's the deal. Stan and Jack worked together on the first 102 issues of Fantastic Four, the most entertaining run in the title's history. Except, there was an unfinished 103rd issue floating around in the vaults someplace. So Marvel have dusted it off, gotten Stan Lee to finish up the script, and Joe Sinnott to deal with the inks. In comic terms, as Marvel's Solicitations say, it really is the equivalent of someone finding a lost Beatles track.
So, do I expect it to be good? I dunno. Stan will always be the greatest man in the universe, but he's not exactly the writer he once was. I really WANT it to be brilliant. So chances are I'll be extremely disappointed. Either way it will be worth a look.
INCREDIBLE HERCULES #114
Written by GREG PAK & FRED VAN LENTE and Pencilled by KHOI PHAM
OK, so this is the title that used to be called Incredible Hulk. Remember last month in the solicits, when the title was made a Big Secret? Well here it is - Incredible Hercules. I'm probably a bit behind the 8-ball here, because I haven't read the conclusion to World War Hulk, which this spins out of. Anyway, barring some radical change to the character, I don't think that Hercules can support his own series. He's an interesting guy in an ensemble cast (and the solicits seem to be indicating that this might be where we're going), but as a lead he doesn't have it. This will be an interesting one to watch.
GIANT-SIZE ASTONISHING X-MEN #1
Written by Joss Whedon and Pencilled by John Cassaday
This is the conclusion to Whedon and Cassaday's glacial X-Men run. It's been rather good, to be honest, but the slow release schedule has hurt the run a lot. The book should have been setting the direction for the whole line, but instead the interminable delays have left the X-Titles in a weird kind of limbo. Now that Astonishing is nearing its conclusion, we're seeing some shake-ups in the line, as I'll be discussing below. Anyway, taken by itself this should be a fun comic, just like the rest of their run. I only hope that the 'X-Man who won't walk away from this confrontation' is that new chick with the armor powers, or it'll really screw up some chronologies.
UNCANNY X-MEN #495
Written by ED BRUBAKER and Pencilled by MICHAEL CHOI
X-MEN: LEGACY #208
Written by MIKE CAREY and Pencilled by SCOT EATON
X-FORCE #1Written by CRAIG KYLE & CHRISTOPHER YOST and Art by CLAYTON CRAIN
X-FACTOR #28
Written by PETER DAVID and Penciled by PABLO RAIMONDI
These are all of the X-Men team books after the current crossover, Messiah CompleX, finishes up. Uncanny X-Men seems to be going on as usual, though it's making noises about there possibly being no X-Men, so we could be seeing a different direction for the first time in ages. X-Men: Legacy seems to have replaced X-Men, and this one is classified. Marvel aren't spilling the beans about it, and I have only vague speculation to go by as far as what it will be about. The main thing I like about both of these titles is the creative teams. It's good to see that Carey and Brubaker are sticking around, because I've enjoyed their stuff so far.
Then there is the latest incarnation of X-Force. This time it's a kind of X-Men black-ops team, comprised of Wolverine, Warpath, X-23, and Wolfsbane. What an odd choice. It certainly doesn't seem to me like it will work as a conventional team book, because the characters share so many similarities. And then I wonder, why is Wolfsbane even here? She's not someone you call on to kill the bad guys. And great, another book for Wolverine. He's in this, New Avengers, two titles of his own, and I guess he'll be in at least one X-Men book. It's officially ridiculous now.
Oh, and it's good to see X-Factor is still hanging around, because it's good. The same can't be said for New X-Men, which doesn't show up in the solicits and is presumably cancelled. The book never clicked for me, and its characters never went beyond bland ciphers. I'm happy to see it gone.
And just to round things out, Cable & Deadpool is cancelled with issue #50, which is sad. Nicieza spent years building up an interesting situation for Cable, and then it all got blown to bits when the character was hijacked for other titles. It's a shame to see it gone, but it's also a minor miracle that it survived for so long with such low sales, so I guess it evens out in a way.
KICK–ASS #1
Written by MARK MILLAR Penciled by JOHN ROMITA JR.
It's written by Mark Millar. It's pencilled by John Romita Jr. It's called KICK-ASS.
Yep, I'll be getting that.
CLANDESTINE #1 (of 5)
Written and Pencilled by ALAN DAVIS
OK, so I never did read the original series from the mid-90s, and to be honest I have no idea what it is even about. A very brief look at their Wikipedia entry indicates that they are kind of a family of superheroes, all of whom have the same ancestor - an immortal guy who fought in the Crusades and married a genie. That sounds pretty cool to me, and when you add in Alan Davis it's even better. He's a good writer, and bar none the best superhero penciller in today's industry who is capable of maintaining a monthly schedule.
FANTASTIC FOUR #554
Written by MARK MILLAR and Pencilled by BRYAN HITCH
Hells yes. I love the Fantastic Four, absolutely LOVE them, but unfortunately I haven't loved their comic in a good long while. I also love Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch (on a purely non-sexual level of course), and all of their recent work has been top-notch. Millar penned some completely awesome FF scenes during his Wolverine arc, and his Ultimate FF was super-cool. The only reservations I have with his writing of the FF stem from Civil War - basically, he writes Reed as a massive dick. Provided that that doesn't carry over to this run, I expect this title to be one of Marvel's very best next year. At the very least it will look gorgeous.
FANTASTIC FOUR: THE LOST ADVENTURE
Written by STAN LEE and Pencilled by JACK KIRBY
So here's the deal. Stan and Jack worked together on the first 102 issues of Fantastic Four, the most entertaining run in the title's history. Except, there was an unfinished 103rd issue floating around in the vaults someplace. So Marvel have dusted it off, gotten Stan Lee to finish up the script, and Joe Sinnott to deal with the inks. In comic terms, as Marvel's Solicitations say, it really is the equivalent of someone finding a lost Beatles track.
So, do I expect it to be good? I dunno. Stan will always be the greatest man in the universe, but he's not exactly the writer he once was. I really WANT it to be brilliant. So chances are I'll be extremely disappointed. Either way it will be worth a look.
INCREDIBLE HERCULES #114
Written by GREG PAK & FRED VAN LENTE and Pencilled by KHOI PHAM
OK, so this is the title that used to be called Incredible Hulk. Remember last month in the solicits, when the title was made a Big Secret? Well here it is - Incredible Hercules. I'm probably a bit behind the 8-ball here, because I haven't read the conclusion to World War Hulk, which this spins out of. Anyway, barring some radical change to the character, I don't think that Hercules can support his own series. He's an interesting guy in an ensemble cast (and the solicits seem to be indicating that this might be where we're going), but as a lead he doesn't have it. This will be an interesting one to watch.
GIANT-SIZE ASTONISHING X-MEN #1
Written by Joss Whedon and Pencilled by John Cassaday
This is the conclusion to Whedon and Cassaday's glacial X-Men run. It's been rather good, to be honest, but the slow release schedule has hurt the run a lot. The book should have been setting the direction for the whole line, but instead the interminable delays have left the X-Titles in a weird kind of limbo. Now that Astonishing is nearing its conclusion, we're seeing some shake-ups in the line, as I'll be discussing below. Anyway, taken by itself this should be a fun comic, just like the rest of their run. I only hope that the 'X-Man who won't walk away from this confrontation' is that new chick with the armor powers, or it'll really screw up some chronologies.
UNCANNY X-MEN #495
Written by ED BRUBAKER and Pencilled by MICHAEL CHOI
X-MEN: LEGACY #208
Written by MIKE CAREY and Pencilled by SCOT EATON
X-FORCE #1Written by CRAIG KYLE & CHRISTOPHER YOST and Art by CLAYTON CRAIN
X-FACTOR #28
Written by PETER DAVID and Penciled by PABLO RAIMONDI
These are all of the X-Men team books after the current crossover, Messiah CompleX, finishes up. Uncanny X-Men seems to be going on as usual, though it's making noises about there possibly being no X-Men, so we could be seeing a different direction for the first time in ages. X-Men: Legacy seems to have replaced X-Men, and this one is classified. Marvel aren't spilling the beans about it, and I have only vague speculation to go by as far as what it will be about. The main thing I like about both of these titles is the creative teams. It's good to see that Carey and Brubaker are sticking around, because I've enjoyed their stuff so far.
Then there is the latest incarnation of X-Force. This time it's a kind of X-Men black-ops team, comprised of Wolverine, Warpath, X-23, and Wolfsbane. What an odd choice. It certainly doesn't seem to me like it will work as a conventional team book, because the characters share so many similarities. And then I wonder, why is Wolfsbane even here? She's not someone you call on to kill the bad guys. And great, another book for Wolverine. He's in this, New Avengers, two titles of his own, and I guess he'll be in at least one X-Men book. It's officially ridiculous now.
Oh, and it's good to see X-Factor is still hanging around, because it's good. The same can't be said for New X-Men, which doesn't show up in the solicits and is presumably cancelled. The book never clicked for me, and its characters never went beyond bland ciphers. I'm happy to see it gone.
And just to round things out, Cable & Deadpool is cancelled with issue #50, which is sad. Nicieza spent years building up an interesting situation for Cable, and then it all got blown to bits when the character was hijacked for other titles. It's a shame to see it gone, but it's also a minor miracle that it survived for so long with such low sales, so I guess it evens out in a way.
KICK–ASS #1
Written by MARK MILLAR Penciled by JOHN ROMITA JR.
It's written by Mark Millar. It's pencilled by John Romita Jr. It's called KICK-ASS.
Yep, I'll be getting that.
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