April 2012 Marvel solicits

[runawayboulder]

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=36576

 

[runawayboulder]

So Avengers #25 is promoted as the final storyline of the Bendis era which mean he's done after AvX. THANK GOD.

I have little to no hope for this event. The only thing that gives me a glimmer of hope is Beast is an Avenger for Secret Avengers #26, part of a space mission to stop the Phoenix. I'm (foolishly) thinking this means friendships and comradery will be take seriously in this event. I'm still not sure if I'm going to follow it, especially at 4 bucks a pop double shipping. It's gonna be a last minute decision.

I'm totally psyched to see Remender write Thor and The Vision though!

I'm really sick of Greg Land on Uncanny X-Men and just sick of him in general.

Looking forward to seeing Silver Sable back in ASM #684.

Carnage #5 promises a lead-in to the follow up super secret symbiote event. Well, if it sells, they're gonna keep throwing it at us. It's like the 90's all over again. The more things change, the more they stay the same....

That is a great cover to Mighty Thor #13 by Walt Simonson, he hasn't lost a step. I'm still boycotting Fraction stuff but the cover looks terrific.

Based on the cover for Battle Scar's #6, I guess the [BLACKOUT]Fury[/BLACKOUT] rumors are true.

Sabertooth vs Beast in WATXM #8 -

Aaron wraps up his run on Wolverine #304 and Cullen Bunn takes over in #305, I'm still there!

 

[JewishHobbit]

With all of Marvel's rediculous double shipping I went from what should have been under budget to $15 over budget. I swear I can't stand them and I'm tired of cutting DC books to make up for Marvel's greed. I have to cut about $15 in comics in April and every dime of it will be coming from Marvel's $4 books. I'm thinking AvX: Vs, Defenders, X-Men, and Avengers Assemble.

 

[DeGenerate10]

I hate double shipping but I wouldn't complain about as much if they'd cut the price back.

 

[Specter313]

For those that care, writer James Asmus has confirmed that the reason there is no Generation Hope solicit is because issue 17 in March will be its last.

 

[Dread]

Another month, another slate of solicits to yell at! Rants ahoy!

- AVENGERS VS. X-MEN kicks off, and between the core mini, VERSUS, and the six crossover comics, it will be 9 comics a month (since AVX ships twice a month). That's about $36 a month, or $216 for the entire thing. Which doesn't include AVX #0 or AVENGERS: X-SANCTION, which is a prelude. Amazing that THIS is what constitutes Marvel taking it easy on fans, eh? It looks like the Phoenix coming to earth sparks the initial conflict.

- I was worried about the lack of solicited Handbooks, as they don't sell well, but at least we'll get an AVENGERS one.

- The announcement of Bendis' final arc on Avengers material beginning cannot make me happier. It is a shame it took Bendis' run to catapult the franchise into the stars, because his inability to write team books well has usually marred it. I look forward to writers who don't feel themselves greater than the franchise or needing to apologize for the tropes to come aboard. Admittedly, it won't be easy sales wise. Then again, Bendis' sales on these books without crossovers are far from his prime.

- AVENGERS ACADEMY continues the meeting between the cadets and the Runaways. The Young Avengers got to meet them twice, so I am curious how Academy handles it. It'll be the first time I've read RUNAWAYS material since the end of the Joss Whedon run. Or the end of Chris Yost's SECRET INVASION mini with the YA. I forget which ended first. Jorge Molina, a collaborator of Christos Gage's on AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, seems to return for another fill in issue. Fine by me.

- Is it wrong that Remender's pre-AVX arc on SECRET AVENGERS seems far more interesting?

- SCARLET SPIDER #4 sounds good - Kaine vs. the Thieves Guild. I wonder if this means an obligatory appearance by Gambit is inevitable? Also, while I didn't think I'd miss the hoodie, I do have to admit that with it, Scarlet Spider could never be confused for Deadpool if one scimmed a cover quickly.

- ASM #683-684 looks awesome; Spidey & the Avengers vs. the Sinister Six! Sandman taking over a desert! A Spidey/Widow/Sable team up! I enjoyed SPIDER-ISLAND a lot, and this looks just as epic, only easier on the wallet. I'm sold.

- VENOM double ships again, and it is funny how Eddie Brock is now becoming Scream/Shriek; back in the 90's she was a lady symbiote woman who was insane and went about killing others like herself. He literally would stab them with a sonic knife, and stalked Brock himself for a while. She last showed up in VENOM: TOOTH AND CLAW which involved bone-claw Wolverine and Dirt Nap and was basically a mess. At any rate, this series has been rock solid, so, more please. I am curious how Remender gets Flash Thompson/Venom from being a hunted fugitive to someone Hawkeye recruits for a team. I imagine he is filling Moon Knight's old spot on the roster as the "token unstable violent maniac".

- The Omega Effect crossover across AVENGING SPIDER-MAN, DAREDEVIL, and PUNISHER gets it right. Only one of these books is $4. It's over quickly. And with Waid & Rucka on scripts with Marco Checchetto on art, expectations for a good story are high. The DD .1 issue will probably serve as an epilogue of sorts.

- CAPTAIN AMERICA #10 has a funny solicit line - Can Cap's Condition be Cured? Is Water Wet? More Alan Davis art makes it sweeter.

- WINTER SOLDIER looks interesting; who wants to bet that Bucky's battling some revamped Beasts Of Berlin, who were old Commie gorillas with human intellect?

- FANTASTIC FOUR #605 looks alright, with a team up between Thing and Future Franklin/Psi-Lord. FF #17 looks interesting; I decided to skip it with #12, but I may may an exception for a one shot story.

- Wow, that BATTLE SCARS #6 cover/solicit really gives it away. Still, I suppose giving Nick Fury a son without just changing the color of his own skin is a compromise to capitalize on the Samuel L. Jackson version. And in fairness, the series itself has read perfectly fine. It isn't the greatest thing ever, but it entertains me.

- DEFENDERS #5 links Namor with Captain Nemo!? So odd, Grant Morrison is cursing himself for not thinking of it!

- THE TWELVE ends, 3 years behind schedule.

- T-Bolts looks interesting, but I am starting to tire of the time travel jump gimmick. I adore Jeff Parker overall, but his consistent attempts to cover up the fact that he can't or won't write any serial antagonists is waring thin on me now.

- X-MEN LEGACY looks interesting, with Gage playing with leftover bits like Weapon Omega. The solicit claims a returned mutant joins the team, and is it Mimic on the cover? But wasn't he created via a freak accident, or was he retconned into being a mutant?

- NEW MUTANTS has seriously lasted over 41 issues without renumbering this volume!? When the hell did that happen?

- It does get hard to take a solicit where Mark Millar claims "The Hero And Sidekick Guys Who Lead The Book Are, I Think, The Best Characters I’ve Written" seriously because he says that about everything he writes. I wonder what he thinks his first published work on SONIC THE HEDGEHOG was? I also love how it is typed in poor grammar with capital letters for every word. Because. That's. How. I. Imagine. Mark. Millar's. Mind. Thinks. In bombastic Michael Bay bursts of insanity. Next from Millarworld: SHOPPING LIST, which is what it sounds, which will also be tapped for a film. Production of "SHOPPING LIST 2" will commence before the comic of SHOPPING LIST 1 is even finished. The sad thing is that because Icon keeps Millar's trades in print better than Marvel do for their own universe collections, they're consistent bookstore sellers. Mark Millar - he's gone from being Grant Morrison's Funny Little Ghostwriter into being a one man media empire.

 

[Max J Power]

How big a name is Cullen Bunn? I know his work is well regarded, but I'm surprised both his ongoings are $3.99. I can see Wolverine selling fine since the character is really popular, but I think Captain America & Hawkeye will struggle to compete with the two $2.99 Cap books. I know I'll be jumping off; (stop me if you've heard this one before) I'm interested, but not for $4 a month.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Cullen Bunn's not really known outside of indie stuff, as far as I know. The Sixth Gun is pretty heavily critically acclaimed, but as far as I understand it, he's still sort of a rising star at Marvel. But someone at Marvel seems to want him to rise pretty high, given the caliber of his assignments so far. He jumped right in with a big event follow-up as part of the writing team for The Fearless.

Anyway, I know I'm excited for a comic when the solicitation makes me involuntarily laugh like Bart Simpson, which that Secret Avengers issue totally did. Thor leading a team of Avengers heavy-hitters (including Beast, Captain Britain, and the Vision!) against the Phoenix sounds awesome. Hopefully Remender does a good job with it.

I think I may wind up reading A vs. X against my better judgment. It's just so damn huge, and I am interested in certain aspects of it. My brain knows it's got about 80/20 odds to be utterly horrible, but the little fanboy inside of me still gets kind of excited when the big characters brawl. Although, if Storm is matched up against Thor and actually wins, I'm instantly dropping it on the spot.

Does anybody else find it kind of funny that the Punisher is seemingly always bandaged up on all of his covers lately? Poor homicidal bastard.

Holy s***, Simonson Thor cover! Awesomesauce x a billion!

Ha, Spider-Man and the Human Torch as roomies. That should be fun.

I kind of wish they'd start drawing Rulk to look more like Ross. The mystery of his identity is no longer a factor, so why is he still running around looking exactly like a red version of the Hulk, right down to wearing only tattered pants? I demand gamma-irradiated mustache action!

So... Marcus Johnson's missing an eye on that last cover of Battle Scars and the solicitation mentions Nick Fury. Oh hai in-continuity Samuel L. Fury!

Marcos Martin should do the cover for everything. That Daredevil #10.1 cover is amazing.

F***ing hell, Rhodey's getting messed up again? I kind of hope they just leave him in the ground this time. The guy just can't catch a break.

Love that they got Bagley to do the cover to the bad T-bolts vs. original T-bolts issue.

Wait, Mimic and Weapon Omega are in X-Men Legacy? And Christos Gage is writing it now? I might have to try that series out again...

 

[JewishHobbit]

I like how they're releasing 7 issues of Venom in 2 months

Apparently 5 issues in February wasn't enough... now lets double ship in March!


Does anyone else picture Marvel as Mr. Crabbs? "MONEEEY!!!"

 

[CConn]

I like how they're releasing 7 issues of Venom in 2 months

Apparently 5 issues in February wasn't enough... now lets double ship in March!


Does anyone else picture Marvel as Mr. Crabbs? "MONEEEY!!!"

Yeah, Venom's been pretty much the only title that I've been interested in buying from Marvel, and now with them fiddling around with the price, and releasing 40 issues in two months...I feel like they're forcing me not to care about it anymore.

 

[JewishHobbit]

I liked the first two issues but dropped it. Then I jumped back on with the issue following Spider-Island and am excited about it but now I'm debating dropping it again. I don't know if it's worth $22 in 2 months. That's nearly a whole week's spending for me for one title. I'm overspending in February and April so that would help.

 

[JewishHobbit]

Correction... only 1 Venom in March and 2 in April... I misspoke. So 8 issues of Venom in 3 months... the point still stands.

 

[THANOSRULES]

it would have made more sense to just make nick fury have some bond-esque blackification

 

[Shockdingo]

Huh, so that's who his dad is going to be....

Am...am I the only one who's kinda sad that 616 Fury isn't really in any other media depictions anymore? (last time I saw him in anything but the comics was either UA2 or Spider-man unlimited.) In The XML games, WaTXM, Avengers EoH, and even MvC3 he the only one being used. I get that the movie is popular, but my main issue (other than the badass graying temples look going away) is that it often removes the WW2 connection with Cap, and I always did like that. Aw well, just mumbling to myself.

And holy crap at all the Venom books! I love the series, but yeowch that's insane. Seriously marvel, bump down your prices; do that, and people will buy more of these awesome books without having to give their kids the odd glance and ponder how much the circus takes for 'em these days.

 

[CConn]

I liked the first two issues but dropped it. Then I jumped back on with the issue following Spider-Island and am excited about it but now I'm debating dropping it again. I don't know if it's worth $22 in 2 months. That's nearly a whole week's spending for me for one title. I'm overspending in February and April so that would help.

Exactly. And then it comes out to simple math;

Would you rather have $22 bucks worth of Venom, or $22 bucks worth of Fatale, Saga, Saucer Country, or any of the other awesome indie series that are coming out in the next few months.

For me, that's an easy choice.

 

[runawayboulder]

Am...am I the only one who's kinda sad that 616 Fury isn't really in any other media depictions anymore? (last time I saw him in anything but the comics was either UA2 or Spider-man unlimited.) In The XML games, WaTXM, Avengers EoH, and even MvC3 he the only one being used. I get that the movie is popular, but my main issue (other than the badass graying temples look going away) is that it often removes the WW2 connection with Cap, and I always did like that. Aw well, just mumbling to myself.

I blame Hasselhoff.

 

[Shockdingo]

*rips off shirt* HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooffffffff!!!!

 

[THANOSRULES]

Doesnt look like NOVA is a big part of this AvX deal as touted

 

[WolfCypher]

I like how they're releasing 7 issues of Venom in 2 months

Apparently 5 issues in February wasn't enough... now lets double ship in March!


Does anyone else picture Marvel as Mr. Crabbs? "MONEEEY!!!"

I'm looking at that February situation in a positive light, since I'm not interested in that month's Venom arc, or so-called event, anymore, at least I don't have to endure it for more than a month. That arc'll be over with all in one month and then a new story starts in March. So that's a plus for me. Marvel

 

[BillPardy]

Huh, so that's who his dad is going to be....

Am...am I the only one who's kinda sad that 616 Fury isn't really in any other media depictions anymore? (last time I saw him in anything but the comics was either UA2 or Spider-man unlimited.) In The XML games, WaTXM, Avengers EoH, and even MvC3 he the only one being used. I get that the movie is popular, but my main issue (other than the badass graying temples look going away) is that it often removes the WW2 connection with Cap, and I always did like that. Aw well, just mumbling to myself.

And holy crap at all the Venom books! I love the series, but yeowch that's insane. Seriously marvel, bump down your prices; do that, and people will buy more of these awesome books without having to give their kids the odd glance and ponder how much the circus takes for 'em these days.

I've been annoyed by this for a long time. Cause... really is Ult. Nick Fury that popular? OR is it just because they don't want to confuse the general audience?

 

[CConn]

I'd say he's as popular as Sam Jackson is.

 

[ArmsHeldOut]

- FANTASTIC FOUR #605 looks alright, with a team up between Thing and Future Franklin/Psi-Lord. FF #17 looks interesting; I decided to skip it with #12, but I may may an exception for a one shot story.

Psi-Lord was a teen version of Franklin Richards created by Tom DeFalco; he no longer exists in the 616 continuum. That said, the adult Franklin Richards shown recently in the pages of Fantastic Four and FF has little to do with the character's former incarnation.

 

[DeGenerate10]

Well it looks like I'll be spending 60 dollars just on Marvel comics in April.

 

[Dread]

Psi-Lord was a teen version of Franklin Richards created by Tom DeFalco; he no longer exists in the 616 continuum. That said, the adult Franklin Richards shown recently in the pages of Fantastic Four and FF has little to do with the character's former incarnation.

I know. But it is still the closest thing to a codename Franklin has. Aside for "Tattletale" from his POWER PACK days, which is pretty lame.