Full Solicitations here.
Would anyone here recommend any of the classic Avengers trade from that list? I'll be getting the Kree/Skrull War OHC, but what about the other stuff?
Thanks!
Thoughts/Rants:
- The very first trade collection is THE CROSSING from the 90's, which was without a doubt one of the worst Avengers stories of the period which practically paved the path to HEROES REBORN being used to wash the funk away. Reprinting that story, back when a previous administration of "genius" half wit editors wanted to "fix" everything and ultimately did more harm than good would be a refresher course to avoid such things now in the second decade of the 21st century. Oh, well.
- WINTER SOLDIER, the latest Brubaker/Cap book debuts, and guess what? A #1 issue for an ongoing series at $2.99! Marvel promised to start doing that back at the NYCC for 2010, and it only took them two years and DC selling a bajillion copies of #1 issues at $2.99 to spark this change. But will it last for more ongoings? In fairness, the series does double ship, but I'd rather pay $5.98 across 2 weeks for 40-44 pages of story than $3.99 for at best 30 pages of story (and usually around 25 or less pages).
- I liked the first issue of BATTLE SCARS (although it was fortunate to come out in a light week). It wasn't the best thing ever but I'm willing to give the new character of Marcus Johnson a chance. Plus, it has Taskmaster, Captain America, and Paladin in it, and I like them. Chris Yost is doing the real writing of it off Fraction and Bunn's ideas, which is fine. Yost is solid alone. I usually give new characters a chance.
- I probably will bite on DEFENDERS, and I hope I don't regret it. It's $3.99 an issue, it's Matt Fraction in decline, and the story looks weird. I'm desperate for Iron Fist, and Dodson's art is pretty. Sigh. It has come to the point where if I want to read Iron Fist, my choice is either THIS or NEW AVENGERS.
- It seems Alan Davis is sticking around CAPTAIN AMERICA for a stretch, which is cool. Great to have a great old hand like him back in a regular gig outside of Chris Claremont X-related stuff. I'll probably like WINTER SOLDIER better, but I've still enjoyed Brubaker on CA overall.
- AVENGERS ACADEMY is double-shipping again, and while double-shipping bleeds readers dry, it does do one thing; it helps lower selling titles wrap up arcs before cancellation hits. AA is safe, at least for now. March's issue will start the RUNAWAYS guest stint, and Gage insisted on Twitter that the series would be safe roughly as long as AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE was, which ended after 35 issues. Of course, that launched under better times, and ended in early 2010. At any rate, this is one of my favorite books from Marvel right now if not THE favorite, so more issues will be a pleasure for me.
- SECRET AVENGERS, hmm. I ditched this after the end of the Nick Spencer run and haven't missed it. I still feel this is a book without much of a premise besides being a third Avengers title, beyond "the black ops book" - as if NEW AVENGERS doesn't do that. At any rate, unlike DEFENDERS, I like the creative team, and I like most of the characters. I'm also reading VENOM, which will be a sister book to this. Why am I more hesitant to hop back on this?
- Is anyone shocked that Joe Mad needs a break, at best, on AVENGING SPIDER-MAN after three issues? No. And it seems fans will be treated to new tracings of porn and wrestling magazines by Greg Land.
- VENOM #13, .1-.4. Oh boy. Where to begin. This is a marketing scheme to use the modestly selling VENOM to promote the worse selling HULK, X-23, and GHOST RIDER, and the latter two have just been axed. This is forcing readers who have stuck around for a book that sells 32k to buy five issues within a month instead of just decide to ditch the arc and maybe the series on a whim to save costs, especially as Bendis' books are all double shipping. This is shipping SIX ISSUES IN ONE MONTH. This is a bit mad. People used to joke that when DC used to fear for a franchise, they'd give it extra books. Now DC has ditched that and Marvel is.
- AMAZING SPIDER-MAN is triple shipping with another .1 issue. The last one launched VENOM successfully, but this one is likely just a spare extra issue. Unless Marvel seriously wants to launch a Morbius series. At any rate, I'm digging ASM so I'll likely be aboard.
- More DAREDEVIL = more awesomeness. I would like to see some more original villains or DD villains redone from obscurity than just a round robin of spare Marvel rogues like Klaw or Mole Man, but Waid and his artists are executing it so well that frankly I don't care. DD could be fighting a mugger and they'd make a solid issue of it.
- FANTASTIC FOUR and FF have split and somehow counted towards each other's numbering while retaining both numbers. Maybe Marvel's problem is they can't count, period. At any rate, I'll get FANTASTIC FOUR #600 and I am still on FF for now, but I may have to think for a week or two whether I like Hickman's run enough to double up.
- For the record, VILLAINS FOR HIRE was once a 6 issue mini. The last ad I saw for it was for 5. Now it is 4 issues. Another sign of the culling. At any rate, I'll take what I can get for the last hurrah of DnA's H4H run. It's frankly been more fun than ANNIHILATORS has been from them.
- T-Bolts continues the time travel gimmick, which has saved Parker's run from becoming boring for the moment. So long as he doesn't overuse it, it should make up for his inability to center a plot around an antagonist.
- Let me get this straight. Marvel has allowed THE TWELVE to run roughly 3.5 years late, if not more. It was a story that was partly centered around a murder mystery. And in the first solicit for the next issues, Marvel literally gives away the mystery. Yes, the story was heading there back in 2008, but still. I'll likely finish it, but jeez, offer me SOME surprise.
- This may be Gage's 3rd or 4th issue of X-MEN LEGACY run, and hopefully I'll like it enough to continue on with. The last writer I was willing to drift back into an X-Men book for was Joss Whedon, so the fact that Gage is up there too should speak volumes of my respect for his craft. I can say in all honesty that I have never read a story from Gage that I considered below average. However, I can say I have read some rare work from him I considered average, and that first AXM issue was - although admittedly, I didn't care for the art for that, and that wasn't Gage's fault. Here, the artist is better and it has some characters Gage has leeway with, so it hopefully will be good. I just hope it isn't rocked by X-events too much.
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