Good news for MAX fans

[hippy fascist]

The MAX imprint at Marvel is preparing for a blizzard of activity this winter as the ongoing Punisher MAX series will be joined by a slew of exciting mini-series including Hellstorm: Son of Satan, Foolkiller, Zombie, Wisdom, Haunt of Horror: H.P. Lovecraft.

In order to preview all of the upcoming MAX projects, Marvel is offering a low-priced MAX sampler to give fans a taste of the different adult-themed series hitting stands this winter.

Hellstorm: Son of Satan: Son of Satan makes his return and Alexander Irvine, award-winning novelist of The Narrows, along with artist Russell Braun will be bringing this MAX title back to its horror roots. When demons descend on a hurricane ravaged New Orleans, it's up to the Damian to prevent the Big Easy from becoming Hell on Earth. Also, be sure to check out the chilling variant cover to the first issue by Mark Texeira.

Zombie: Mike Raicht and Kyle Hotz bring the gore in this four-issue limited series featuring a small New York town overtaken by the undead. When the last survivors learn they are barricaded in along with homicidal bank robbers, they find themselves between a rock and very dead place.

Foolkiller: Best-selling author Gregg Hurwitz oversees the return of a long-missing character in the pages of Foolkiller. Hurwitz, the author of best-selling novels The Kill Clause (currently being optioned by Paramount Pictures), Minutes to Burn, and Trouble Shooter, oversees the return of this oft-requested character.



Wisdom: Paul Cornell, writer of the BBC's Dr. Who and Robin Hood, joins up with fan-favorite artist Trevor Hairsine as he pens a limited series following New Excalibur's Pete Wisdom. Wisdom and his team of secret agents in MI:13 must protect England from an invasion of homicidal fairies, a town overtaken by nightmares and trigger-happy soldiers, and every other possible threat that could plague Britain.

Haunt of Horror: H.P. Lovecraft: The sci-fi musings of H.P. Lovecraft get the Haunt of Horror treatment as the classic writings of Lovecraft get a modern-day spin.




Punisher MAX: Writer Garth Ennis and artists Goran Parlov and Leandro Fernandez continue the "Man of Stone" story arc as Frank Castle takes the fight to a Russian general; all the way to the mountains of Afghanistan.

Also coming soon is the Haunt of Horror: Edgar Allan Poe HC featuring the three-issue series plus tons of extras.

Pick up the MAX Sampler to get a preview of all these upcoming MAX releases and see why the MAX line offers what you can't get anywhere else on your comic stands.

Retailers are advised to check all their MAX titles orders carefully and to be aware of the adult themes of the books.

MAX SAMPLER
Written by PAUL CORNELL, GARTH ENNIS, ALEXANDER IRVINE, MIKE RAICHT,
Penciled by TREVOR HAIRSINE, RUSS BRAUN, Kyle Hotz, ARTHUR SUYDAM,
RICHARD CORBEN, and more
32 PGS./MAX - EXPLICIT CONTENT ...$1.00
FOC - 9/14, On Sale - 10/4/2006

Looks pretty sweet, definately picking this up and good to see marvel making proper use of the max line

 

[The Question]

They seem to bringing in alot of people from outside the industry. In any event, it sounds pretty cool. MAX was intended to be Marvel's Virtigo, but it sorely needs the quality books to back it up. The only MAX titles I've read that come even close to Virtigo's best are Howard The Duck and Supreme Power.

 

[Dwarf lord]

They seem to bringing in alot of people from outside the industry. In any event, it sounds pretty cool. MAX was intended to be Marvel's Virtigo, but it sorely needs the quality books to back it up. The only MAX titles I've read that come even close to Virtigo's best are Howard The Duck and Supreme Power.

I disagree about Supreme Power. I mean it was good, but I don't consider it close to Vertigo's best. Supreme Power was good, but it was just a darkened look at the JLA. The best of Vertigo has stuff going on at a whole other level that Supreme Power never achieved.

 

[The Question]

I was simply saying that Supreme Power and Howard the Duck were the ones that came closest. I don't think they're as good as Sandman or Transmetropolitan.

 

[Joker]

looking forward to the new Haunt Of Horror, I dug the Poe one, so hopefully this is just as good

 

[Dwarf lord]

I was simply saying that Supreme Power and Howard the Duck were the ones that came closest. I don't think they're as good as Sandman or Transmetropolitan.

Okay, sorry. Wasn't sure what you meant. Ugh, I still need to read Transmet and Sandman...

 

[hippy fascist]

looking forward to the new Haunt Of Horror, I dug the Poe one, so hopefully this is just as good

Lovecraft pwns, read "at the mountains of madness", you'll not regret it!

 

[MiracloFiend]

Foolkiller will be great as a MAX series.

 

[Harlekin]

Looks good, although I kind of hate how they're trying to make Wisdom a Constantine wannabe.

 

[The Question]

Eh, there are similarities between alot of DC and Marvel characters. The story sounds like something that would happen in Hellblazer, but then alot of Daredevil stories sound like something that would happen in Batman. What I've read of Wisdom's character (which, I admit, isn't much) doesn't make me think of Constantine in terms of personality.

 

[Harlekin]

Exactly why I don't like this direction for him. Not all British characters need to be like Constantine.

 

[The Question]

True. Although, to be fair, Wisdom's role as a secret agent dealing with superhuman and paranormal stuff does lend itself to these kinds of stories without much of a stretch. It's not like they're writing Captain Britain with these kinds of stories.

 

[Harlekin]

Captain Britain would actually be more logical since he's always dealt with the mystical. Wisdom is basically a really cool British SHIELD-like agent. He has no business fighting homicidal faeries. He'd be much cooler in a real spy-like adventure.

 

[hippy fascist]

Peter Winston "Pete" Wisdom is a fictional character, a secret agent in the Marvel Comics comic book universe created by British comic writer Warren Ellis. Wisdom is a former British Secret Service agent with the mutant ability to throw 'blades' of energy ("hot knives") from his fingertips (one online critic pointed out that "hotknife" was a slang term for drug paraphernalia; this is presumed to have been deliberate on Warren Ellis's part).
Wisdom was briefly a member of the X-Men splinter teams (and spinoff titles) Excalibur and X-Force. He is rarely seen in anything other than a scruffy suit (sometimes under a trenchcoat) or without a cigarette or a bottle of liquor in hand. Wisdom is said to be a derivative of DC Comics' Vertigo character, John Constantine (whom writer Warren Ellis later wrote during a brief and troubled stint on Hellblazer), though Ellis himself has denied this and said Wisdom is based on Jack Regan from The Sweeney.

But who do we believe?

 

[The Question]

Captain Britain would actually be more logical since he's always dealt with the mystical. Wisdom is basically a really cool British SHIELD-like agent. He has no business fighting homicidal faeries. He'd be much cooler in a real spy-like adventure.

But the organization he's apart of is essentially Marvel's B.P.R.D. They deal with the superhuman/paranormal stuff.

 

[Darthphere]

Even Union Jack has dealt with the paranormal.

 

[Horrorfan]

I'm interested in a few of these- I love Marvel's horror titles for the first part.

Speaking of which, do these titles have any firm release dates?

And what about the new Blade series? When does the first issue hit?

 

[Elijya]

Okay, sorry. Wasn't sure what you meant. Ugh, I still need to read Transmet and Sandman...

Dwarf Lord, do I need to hurt you?

 

[Harlekin]

But the organization he's apart of is essentially Marvel's B.P.R.D. They deal with the superhuman/paranormal stuff.

That doesn't actually validate the 'Let's make Wisdom like Constantine'-approach to it though. I mean, I love the idea of homocidal faeries, but he could've fought some weird new superhuman too.

 

[The Question]

Fighting homicidal faeries doesn't instantly make him like Constantine. It just makes him someone fighting paranormal stuff. Constantine doesn't own the "weird fantasy crap" genre.

 

[MiracloFiend]

And what about the new Blade series? When does the first issue hit?

Should be next week, according to marvel.com

 

[SpideyInATree]

Zombie sounds like it'll be pretty cool, I'll most likely be picking it up. The rest don't really interest me too much, and I already get Punisher MAX and EVERYBODY ELSE SHOULD TOO BECAUSE IT'S A GREAT READ!

Supreme Power was good, but it was just a darkened look at the JLA.

I mean...that's basically what it's supposed to be. And that's basically what Mark Gruenwald did when he did Squadron Supreme in 1985. He loved the characters of DC so much and wanted them to interact in a Marvel-comic like style, and knew DC would never let him do that to their characters. He made up his own characters that paralleled the 'JLA' and made the story he'd always wanted to tell.

It's not like they were trying to be SECRETIVE about that fact or anything, heh.

 

[Darthphere]

I mean...that's basically what it's supposed to be. And that's basically what Mark Gruenwald did when he did Squadron Supreme in 1985. He loved the characters of DC so much and wanted them to interact in a Marvel-comic like style, and knew DC would never let him do that to their characters. He made up his own characters that paralleled the 'JLA' and made the story he'd always wanted to tell.

It's not like they were trying to be SECRETIVE about that fact or anything, heh.

And at the time I think JLA was in a huge rut. So, no complaints from me.

 

[Dwarf lord]

Dwarf Lord, do I need to hurt you?

Hey, it's not like I'm not planning on reading them. It's just that I'm a poor student in need of a job.

 

[Harlekin]

Fighting homicidal faeries doesn't instantly make him like Constantine. It just makes him someone fighting paranormal stuff. Constantine doesn't own the "weird fantasy crap" genre.

It is when both are chainsmoking (although formerly in Wisdom's case), trenchcoat wearing British folk dealing with weird fantasy crap. It just feels too Constantine-y for me.