Henry10MARVEL SOLICITATIONS FOR MARCH 2008
December 28th 2007 13:53
In the spirit of the holiday season (which for me is the spirit of sitting around doing very little) I am once again relying upon the Marvel solicitations to prop me up. Looking back on my archives, I've been doing a bit too much of this recently - but no more! One of my New year's Resolutions is to use my internet time more productively - so next year expect less of me randomly trawling Dungeons & Dragons message boards, and more of me actually updating The Comic Nerd.
But before all of that, back to our regularly scheduled filler - what's coming from Marvel in March next year?
DARK TOWER: THE LONG ROAD HOME #1 (of 5)
Written by ROBIN FURTH & PETER DAVID
Art & Cover by JAE LEE & RICHARD ISANOVE
The next Dark Tower series is on the way after the huge sales of the first one. I have a love-hate relationship with the Dark Tower series - the first four novels were superb, the fifth was pretty good, and the last two were godawfully abysmal. That has little to do with the comic series, which was awesome. This was largely due to Jae Lee's art, and also that it was based on flashbacks from the 4th novel, the best in the series. This new series seems to be based on events only briefly mentioned in the novels, and that's a big point of interest. It's a shame that King's involvement seems to be minimal - the sales for legitimate new Dark Tower stuff from him would be massive. Still, this looks like one to get.
AVENGERS FAIRY TALES #1 (of 4)
Written by C.B. CEBULSKI
Pencils by JOĆO LEMOS
Because the world was just crying out for a Peter Pan adaptation featuring Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Honestly, I have to wonder - who are these miniseries selling to? For those who don't know, Marvel have done X-Men Fairy Tales and Spider-Man Fairy Tales, which take fairy tales and myths and rework them so that they feature analogues of Marvel characters. And now we have an Avengers one, so they must be successful, despite being utterly mediocre and superfluous. In other words, don't buy this - save the money and get the J.M. Barry original.
THE LAST DEFENDERS #1 (of 6)
Written by JOE CASEY
Pencils by JIM MUNIZ
Ah, the Defenders. Forever being relaunched and cancelled, it's often difficult to remember that they had a respectable 152 issue run in the 70s and 80s. This time around we get The Last Defenders, which at least seems to promise some significant events. The team line-up is weird, though (yes, even weird for a Defenders roster). Ya got yer Nighthawk, which is fair enough - of all the long-term members of the team he is the one that screams DEFENDER to me the most - probably because that's all he ever was. Then there's She-Hulk, which is also fair enough. She has a habit of joining teams without much prodding needed. Now it gets strange - the next member is Colossus. You know, big metal guy, member of the X-Men. He's never been anything but an X-Men character. It's purely a subjective thing, but it never seems right to me when one of the X-Men jumps over to the mainstream Marvel Universe. And then it gets even weirder - the final member is the Blazing Skull, a character from the 1940s who was recently revived in the Chuck Austen Invaders series. I know nothing else about him, except that he looks way cool. So it's a Defenders relaunch, but with a decidedly non-Defenders team roster. I think this is a wise decision - the Defenders have failed a few times, and a change is needed for them to succeed this time. The writer is Joe Casey, who tends to waver between straight-ahead superheroics and edgier stuff that blurs the superhero boundaries. He's never been a huge sales draw, so it'll be interesting to see where this goes. At worst, I'd say that it will be decent
MYTHOS: CAPTAIN AMERICA
Written by PAUL JENKINS
Art and Cover by PAOLO RIVERA
And the Mythos one shots roll on. The purpose of these is to provide a sort of iconic origin story for Marvel's characters, that meshes elements of the comic and movie origins. Or something, they haven't really ended up that way. Now it's Captain America's turn, given that his death has given him a madicum of popularity. I don't really know what they can do to tweak Cap's origin, especially given that there's no movie around to mesh his comic origin with. Still, it's Paul Jenkins, and he's generally worth a look.
POWER PACK: DAY ONE #1 (of 4)
Written by Fred Van Lente
Penciled by Gurihiru & COLLEEN COOVER
This is the latest of the Power Pack miniseries, aimed at younger readers. They've been a blast, and I'm glad to see that these are still going with the same creative team. They are heaps of fun. Power Pack have also just gone into development as a film, though that could mean nothing given the vagaries of Hollywood.
CABLE #1
Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI
Pencils & Cover by ARIEL OLIVETTI
We're into the meat and potatoes now - the new X-Titles in the wake of Messiah Complex. I've always liked Cable (yeah, I was a 90s teenager), and I think he's got a lot of potential. Cable & Deadpool as a title had him exactly right, and it's a shame that Cable got yanked away from it for the last year or so. I'm not sure that this relaunch will be as good - the details are sketchy, and the writer unfamiliar to me. The one thing I'm optimistic about is that Cable apparently has a mission - give Cable an agenda, and the desire to achieve it by any means necessary, and it'll usually make for a comic I enjoy. You know, unless Rob Liefeld pencils it.
WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #1
Written by FRED VAN LENTE
Penciled by ANDREA DI VITO
X-Men: First Class seems to have been a hit (by the standards of the MArvel Adventures line, anyhow). So by Marvel logic, it requires a spinoff. And who better than Wolverine, who is already in five team books and two solo titles? All snarking aside, though, this sounds like a fun title - it's set just after Kitty Pryde joins the X-Men, and serves as a Wolverine/Kitty team-up book. That sounds like fun, and throwing in Fred Van Lente as the writer only sweetens the deal. I'd love the sound of this if it weren't for Wolverine's ridiculous prolificness.
Oh, and one other thing - Wolverine: First Class is a dumb name. X-Men: First Class works - it has a legitimate double meaning, because it features the first team of X-Men, who also happened to be awesome (i.e. first class). It is a pun. Wolverine: First Class is just a nonsensical attempt to create a new brand. Lazy stuff.
LOGAN #1 (of 3)
Written by BRIAN K. VAUGHAN
Art & Cover by EDUARDO RISSO
Grrr. Argh. More Wolverine. Do not want!
It's another mini exploring Wolverine's past. These may have been acceptable in the past, but today we have Wolverine: Origins, an entire ongoing series exploring Wolverine's past. If they really had to do this, it should have been a fill-in on that title.
PUNISHER #55
Written by GARTH ENNIS
Penciled by GORAN PARLOV
Garth Ennis concludes his seminal run on PUNISHER -- in style.
<FANGUISH>NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</FANGU ISH>
WAR IS HELL: THE FIRST FLIGHT OF THE PHANTOM EAGLE #1 (of 5)
Written by GARTH ENNIS
Penciled by HOWARD CHAYKIN
Garth Ennis and Howard Chaykin doing a World War I fighter pilot comic? SOLD!
But before all of that, back to our regularly scheduled filler - what's coming from Marvel in March next year?
DARK TOWER: THE LONG ROAD HOME #1 (of 5)
Written by ROBIN FURTH & PETER DAVID
Art & Cover by JAE LEE & RICHARD ISANOVE
The next Dark Tower series is on the way after the huge sales of the first one. I have a love-hate relationship with the Dark Tower series - the first four novels were superb, the fifth was pretty good, and the last two were godawfully abysmal. That has little to do with the comic series, which was awesome. This was largely due to Jae Lee's art, and also that it was based on flashbacks from the 4th novel, the best in the series. This new series seems to be based on events only briefly mentioned in the novels, and that's a big point of interest. It's a shame that King's involvement seems to be minimal - the sales for legitimate new Dark Tower stuff from him would be massive. Still, this looks like one to get.
AVENGERS FAIRY TALES #1 (of 4)
Written by C.B. CEBULSKI
Pencils by JOĆO LEMOS
Because the world was just crying out for a Peter Pan adaptation featuring Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. Honestly, I have to wonder - who are these miniseries selling to? For those who don't know, Marvel have done X-Men Fairy Tales and Spider-Man Fairy Tales, which take fairy tales and myths and rework them so that they feature analogues of Marvel characters. And now we have an Avengers one, so they must be successful, despite being utterly mediocre and superfluous. In other words, don't buy this - save the money and get the J.M. Barry original.
THE LAST DEFENDERS #1 (of 6)
Written by JOE CASEY
Pencils by JIM MUNIZ
Ah, the Defenders. Forever being relaunched and cancelled, it's often difficult to remember that they had a respectable 152 issue run in the 70s and 80s. This time around we get The Last Defenders, which at least seems to promise some significant events. The team line-up is weird, though (yes, even weird for a Defenders roster). Ya got yer Nighthawk, which is fair enough - of all the long-term members of the team he is the one that screams DEFENDER to me the most - probably because that's all he ever was. Then there's She-Hulk, which is also fair enough. She has a habit of joining teams without much prodding needed. Now it gets strange - the next member is Colossus. You know, big metal guy, member of the X-Men. He's never been anything but an X-Men character. It's purely a subjective thing, but it never seems right to me when one of the X-Men jumps over to the mainstream Marvel Universe. And then it gets even weirder - the final member is the Blazing Skull, a character from the 1940s who was recently revived in the Chuck Austen Invaders series. I know nothing else about him, except that he looks way cool. So it's a Defenders relaunch, but with a decidedly non-Defenders team roster. I think this is a wise decision - the Defenders have failed a few times, and a change is needed for them to succeed this time. The writer is Joe Casey, who tends to waver between straight-ahead superheroics and edgier stuff that blurs the superhero boundaries. He's never been a huge sales draw, so it'll be interesting to see where this goes. At worst, I'd say that it will be decent
MYTHOS: CAPTAIN AMERICA
Written by PAUL JENKINS
Art and Cover by PAOLO RIVERA
And the Mythos one shots roll on. The purpose of these is to provide a sort of iconic origin story for Marvel's characters, that meshes elements of the comic and movie origins. Or something, they haven't really ended up that way. Now it's Captain America's turn, given that his death has given him a madicum of popularity. I don't really know what they can do to tweak Cap's origin, especially given that there's no movie around to mesh his comic origin with. Still, it's Paul Jenkins, and he's generally worth a look.
POWER PACK: DAY ONE #1 (of 4)
Written by Fred Van Lente
Penciled by Gurihiru & COLLEEN COOVER
This is the latest of the Power Pack miniseries, aimed at younger readers. They've been a blast, and I'm glad to see that these are still going with the same creative team. They are heaps of fun. Power Pack have also just gone into development as a film, though that could mean nothing given the vagaries of Hollywood.
CABLE #1
Written by DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI
Pencils & Cover by ARIEL OLIVETTI
We're into the meat and potatoes now - the new X-Titles in the wake of Messiah Complex. I've always liked Cable (yeah, I was a 90s teenager), and I think he's got a lot of potential. Cable & Deadpool as a title had him exactly right, and it's a shame that Cable got yanked away from it for the last year or so. I'm not sure that this relaunch will be as good - the details are sketchy, and the writer unfamiliar to me. The one thing I'm optimistic about is that Cable apparently has a mission - give Cable an agenda, and the desire to achieve it by any means necessary, and it'll usually make for a comic I enjoy. You know, unless Rob Liefeld pencils it.
WOLVERINE: FIRST CLASS #1
Written by FRED VAN LENTE
Penciled by ANDREA DI VITO
X-Men: First Class seems to have been a hit (by the standards of the MArvel Adventures line, anyhow). So by Marvel logic, it requires a spinoff. And who better than Wolverine, who is already in five team books and two solo titles? All snarking aside, though, this sounds like a fun title - it's set just after Kitty Pryde joins the X-Men, and serves as a Wolverine/Kitty team-up book. That sounds like fun, and throwing in Fred Van Lente as the writer only sweetens the deal. I'd love the sound of this if it weren't for Wolverine's ridiculous prolificness.
Oh, and one other thing - Wolverine: First Class is a dumb name. X-Men: First Class works - it has a legitimate double meaning, because it features the first team of X-Men, who also happened to be awesome (i.e. first class). It is a pun. Wolverine: First Class is just a nonsensical attempt to create a new brand. Lazy stuff.
LOGAN #1 (of 3)
Written by BRIAN K. VAUGHAN
Art & Cover by EDUARDO RISSO
Grrr. Argh. More Wolverine. Do not want!
It's another mini exploring Wolverine's past. These may have been acceptable in the past, but today we have Wolverine: Origins, an entire ongoing series exploring Wolverine's past. If they really had to do this, it should have been a fill-in on that title.
PUNISHER #55
Written by GARTH ENNIS
Penciled by GORAN PARLOV
Garth Ennis concludes his seminal run on PUNISHER -- in style.
<FANGUISH>NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</FANGU ISH>
WAR IS HELL: THE FIRST FLIGHT OF THE PHANTOM EAGLE #1 (of 5)
Written by GARTH ENNIS
Penciled by HOWARD CHAYKIN
Garth Ennis and Howard Chaykin doing a World War I fighter pilot comic? SOLD!
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