Marvel May '09 Solicitations

[CaptainCanada]

- AGENTS OF ATLAS twice within a month shall be greatness. I am curious how well it debuted once the sales figures are in. It is odd that the Agents are taking on the New Avengers rather than the Dark variety, but I guess the downside of running Yellow Claw's organization is that fellow heroes assume you are up to no good.

Parker's said in interviews that all the heroes in the MU will think of the Agents as villains, and be constantly fighting them; he's also touted a matchup against the X-Men.

 

[Specter313]

Is that Aegis the Herc cover? When did he die?

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I don't think he did. He's Athena's champion, and since Herc and Cho are hanging out with Athena, they're gonna run into him soon. Unless he is dead and part of their mission in Hades is to retrieve him too.

Parker's said in interviews that all the heroes in the MU will think of the Agents as villains, and be constantly fighting them; he's also touted a matchup against the X-Men.

Yeah, the Agents control the Atlas Foundation, which is known as a vast criminal empire on par with HYDRA or the Hand. That's the central conflict of the series--Jimmy Woo trying to use the Atlas Foundation for good but in very discreet ways. I love how much more animated Parker makes him on Bob Grayson's ship, since it's the only place he can really be himself.

Anyway, the Dark Reign stuff I read all looks fantastic. The Secret Warriors solicitation made me decide to just pick up SW #1 and read the issues instead of trade-waiting, in fact. I want to get a feel for Hickman's non-indie writing and he and Bendis would have to really, really be trying hard to f*** up Dum Dum Dugan's return.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Captain America - Sounds like a recipe for a good Brubaker anniversary: light on the more bombastic elements (which I like just fine when done right), low-key character stuff. I wonder if next issue will be #600 or not, in which case some bigger story may start there.

I wouldn't be surprised considering that Alex Ross has said that Marvel will be doing several "milestone" books this year like Thor #600, the Incredible Hulk #600 and the unconfirmed but obvious Daredevil #500.

Granted that if Marvel puts Captain America at #600 it would have the same ******ed numbering as Hulk by ignoring the first series (the 78 issue Captain America Comics) and starting with the anthology.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Almost all of Marvel's numberings are ******ed. X-Men shouldn't really have those 20-odd issues of reprints counted, Thor shouldn't have the 82 issues of JIM before the character even appeared counted but not the 11 JIM issues after it reverted to that title, etc. But if all of the big milestone issues are as good as Thor #600, Fantastic Four #500, and various other milestones we've seen already, I'm okay with fudging the numbers a bit.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Almost all of Marvel's numberings are ******ed. X-Men shouldn't really have those 20-odd issues of reprints counted, Thor shouldn't have the 82 issues of JIM before the character even appeared counted but not the 11 JIM issues after it reverted to that title, etc. But if all of the big milestone issues are as good as Thor #600, Fantastic Four #500, and various other milestones we've seen already, I'm okay with fudging the numbers a bit.

But Journey into Mystery and Thor are pretty much the same book, just retitled and in a completely different direction. Sorta like Incredible Hulk became Incredible Hercules. It makes sense even if Thor wasn't the main character for the first 82 issues of the book.

But with Captain America and Hulk, they literally have huge chunks such as the 78 issue Captain America Comics and the 6 issue Incredible Hulk. That makes no sense.

 

[hippie_hunter]

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN#13: Pepper Potts is "Iron Woman" for not very long before she appears in bondage on a comic book cover; life in the city is hard for heroines! That said, I believe DARK REIGN has really helped IIM out. The story of Stark on the run with less armor power from Osborn and some nasty villains, out of power and being humbled, but for once on the moral high ground (he wanted to protect the secret identities from the Green Goblin). And, Fraction has done more to salvage Maria Hill as a less-annoying character than Bendis or Millar EVER did in far more material. Larocca's art has taken a hit from the 90's, but other than that, it is becoming a better book with the 2009 house event.

Fraction still had Tony sleep with this though:

That's pretty gross IMO

 

[Dread]

Parker's said in interviews that all the heroes in the MU will think of the Agents as villains, and be constantly fighting them; he's also touted a matchup against the X-Men.

The X-Men, eh? That should boost sales.

Is that Aegis the Herc cover? When did he die?

He didn't. In the late 90's, he attainted a super-powered breastplate from Athena that he "found" that gave him his forcefield powers. By the end of the NEW WARRIORS series from '99, he had met Athena and Hercules who approved of him and Athena outright claimed Aegis was acting as her champion. Later, he popped up during CIVIL WAR, unregistered and running from authorities. Thus, he would fit into INCREDIBLE HERCULES in many ways.

I don't think he did. He's Athena's champion, and since Herc and Cho are hanging out with Athena, they're gonna run into him soon. Unless he is dead and part of their mission in Hades is to retrieve him too.

Yeah, the Agents control the Atlas Foundation, which is known as a vast criminal empire on par with HYDRA or the Hand. That's the central conflict of the series--Jimmy Woo trying to use the Atlas Foundation for good but in very discreet ways. I love how much more animated Parker makes him on Bob Grayson's ship, since it's the only place he can really be himself.

Anyway, the Dark Reign stuff I read all looks fantastic. The Secret Warriors solicitation made me decide to just pick up SW #1 and read the issues instead of trade-waiting, in fact. I want to get a feel for Hickman's non-indie writing and he and Bendis would have to really, really be trying hard to f*** up Dum Dum Dugan's return.

Yeah, Aegis in INCREDIBLE HERC is such a no-brainer I am surprised it took this long to install him.

The entire schtick with AGENTS OF ATLAS is that they are heroes running a criminal empire trying to maintain some of that criminal rep, but using the resources for noble purposes. For example, they will commit robberies, but they won't kill anyone. Heck, Woo was angry at his dragon for eating Man Mountain Marko, who was basically a steroid pumped mafia goon (turned fed agent, of course). A fight with the New Avengers may be interesting because they would likely remember Wolverine, even if he doesn't recall them (from that mission in Cuba during the 50's with the giant bugs). Spider-Man, though, met them during one of those SPIDER-MAN FAMILY specials and would at least be aware of them doing good "sometimes". But, yeah, it leaves them free to fight villains and heroes alike.

I am not interested in SECRET WARRIORS, personally.

 

[Dread]

Fraction still had Tony sleep with this though:

That's pretty gross IMO

Tony slept with Madame Masque. Your point?

 

[bryanss3]

she doesn't always look like that.

 

[CaptainCanada]

X-Men shouldn't really have those 20-odd issues of reprints counted

Why? UXM's numbering is the most linear of any long-running title; sure, some were reprints, but that's no reason why they shouldn't count. There was a UXM #68 and a 78, etc.

Thor shouldn't have the 82 issues of JIM before the character even appeared counted but not the 11 JIM issues after it reverted to that title, etc.

That also makes sense; they took the last numbers of all the previous volumes and put them together (Thor #502 + Thor #85).

The previous volume of Hulk is a bit more questionable when they omit the original few issues, but the overriding goal is to line up the numbering with the numbering of the most famous volume, the ones that ended in the mid-90s.

Granted that if Marvel puts Captain America at #600 it would have the same ******ed numbering as Hulk by ignoring the first series (the 78 issue Captain America Comics) and starting with the anthology.

That was Timely Comics, though.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Why? UXM's numbering is the most linear of any long-running title; sure, some were reprints, but that's no reason why they shouldn't count. There was a UXM #68 and a 78, etc.

That also makes sense; they took the last numbers of all the previous volumes and put them together (Thor #502 + Thor #85).

The previous volume of Hulk is a bit more questionable when they omit the original few issues, but the overriding goal is to line up the numbering with the numbering of the most famous volume, the ones that ended in the mid-90s.


That was Timely Comics, though.

It just seems to me that if you're gonna renumber the comic to ostensibly have the "original numbering," it should actually be a correct count. I don't mind counting the Journey Into Mystery issues before Thor, for example, but you'd have to count the JIM issues after Thor #502 as well, otherwise you're saying, "Hey, this series as a whole was Thor's, regardless of the title, and we're counting it all as Thor's, even if he didn't exist for those first 82 issues... only we're randomly just not gonna count these other JIM issues on the end here, just 'cause."

 

[bryanss3]

The Timely Comics Captain America should count

 

[CaptainCanada]

It makes sense to me; when Thor left, he transferred the numbering line with him to the new volume (as with Hulk's leaving what is now Herc; the count to #600 stopped when he left and picked up with the current volume).

 

[WolfCypher]

I "love" how they manage to squeeze Wolverine on the cover of ASM 595, as if he just had to be there, cause its required that Wolverine appears on everyone's comic. I wonder if he'll even be in the book.

 

[Franklin Richards]

No Marvel title should have a higher number than the FF.


Period.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

That would make sense, but not every title was fortunate enough to start on a shiny #1 issue. Thus, this s*** gets confusing.

 

[CaptainCanada]

No Marvel title should have a higher number than the FF.


Period.

But historically, many titles have a higher numbering than FF; Hulk, Thor, and Cap all would/do if they hadn't been renumbered, as FF was to arrive at its current cumulative numbering.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Hulk didn't have higher numbers. And Thor is cheating. And Spidey is doing that cheap weekly trick. And even if you added all the Cap issues from the past it wouldn't be higher than the FF.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Hulk didn't have higher numbers. And Thor is cheating. And Spidey is doing that cheap weekly trick. And even if you added all the Cap issues from the past it wouldn't be higher than the FF.

Cap would be as high as Batman and Superman if you add all his numbers:

Captain America Comics (1941 - 1954): 78 issues
Tales of Suspense/Captain America (1959 - 1996): 454 issues
Captain America (1996 - 1997): 13 issues
Captain America (1998 - 2002): 50 issues
Captain America (2002 - 2004): 32 issues
Captain America (2005 - present): 47 issues (plus 48, 49, 50 solicited)

A grand total of 674 (plus 675, 676, 677 solicited) just below Batman (686 issues) and Superman (684 issues plus 686, 687 solicited).

Last time I checked 674 > 563. Even if you include the solicited issues, basic math and logic determine that 674 is greater than 567. Cap's book should be over 100 issues over the Fantastic Fours' book.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Was he in all of those Tales of Suspense?

 

[hippie_hunter]

Was he in all of those Tales of Suspense?

Tales of Suspense became Captain America with issue #100. They're the same book, just with a different title.

It really wasn't even a new direction for the book with the retitling because Captain America was a regular character the book for about 40 issues before hand.

 

[Franklin Richards]

So ya could drop about 60 issues or so. Still higher but that's Cap after all. Of course Cap getting a renumbering above the FF would be acceptable.

But that's it.

 

[hippie_hunter]

So ya could drop about 60 issues or so. Still higher but that's Cap after all. Of course Cap getting a renumbering above the FF would be acceptable.

But that's it.

Thor should be higher IMO. I find it silly that Marvel counts Journey into Mystery 1 - 82 (which didn't even have Thor), but they don't count Journey into Mystery 504 - 521. Stupid Marvel not even re-numbering right

 

[imdaly]

- AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #24 seems to confirm that Osborn closes down Camp Hammond, which of course leaves the Shadow Initiative out on a mission with no home base to return to, which should be interesting. It does seem that Ramos was in such a rush with the cover, he forgot to draw Komodo's tail. Still, this should be interesting.

He didn't forget. Her tail was just cut off before that moment and it hasn't grown back just yet. Same goes with her left leg.