Checked out the solicits for November. As usual, thoughts/rants:
- X-MEN VS. AGENTS OF ATLAS #2 ships. As usual, Colossus is getting his butt kicked on the cover. Seriously, has that poor metal man ever beaten anyone decent? Or at least held his own? At any rate, the uncovered secret is that AGENTS OF ATLAS has essentially been canceled. The ongoing's sales are right about at the cancellation line in June, and likely haven't improved despite shipping ahead of schedule, and being $3 still. Marvel, at the very least, can't be accused of abandoning this book. After the 2005 mini, they kept the team around in some random one-shot anthologies, including two SECRET INVASION ones. The 6 page preview for the new #1 was in all of Marvel's books and promoted. The random fight with the X-Men is clearly meant to bring some more attention to AoA, Even if, aside for Wolverine having a grudge against them, it makes no sense for the teams to fight. At any rate, the team is to serve in back-up strips in INCREDIBLE HERCULES. Back-up's are an old idea, but a good one. Marvel decided to wait until DC announced them to figure, "oh, maybe we really should actually try to justify $4 price hikes besides Joe Q's perennial, 'because we can, suck it fanboy' answers", but they are here. I am curious whether they will have any impact on INCREDIBLE HERCULES' falling sales. BOOSTER GOLD saw a slight sales boost for that title's first issue with BLUE BEETLE as a back-up, although not a big one; about the same as if that issue had had a variant cover.
- Speaking of INCREDIBLE HERCULES, Marvel isn't letting this one go without a fight, as well. They're promoting the fall's Olympus storyline with a one-shot and guest appearances from characters who have been unable to boost actual sales in any guest appearance for the last seven years, but Marvel still stubbornly believes they can because everyone in editorial acts like it is still 1993, like Spider-Man. I appreciate the effort, truly. It just won't work; it is too little, too late. The time to try something like this was, frankly, about four months ago. By November IH's sales may be at around cancellation point if the current rate of decline continues, unless every issue is to have a popular variant cover. Guest appearances simply don't work anymore; there was a brief period when X-23 could boost sales maybe 4-5 years ago, but that time has passed. Marvel needs to try to "save" a book when sales are still around 32k, not when they are 28k and falling.
To be fair, I am loving IH, and I am sure this story will be awesome. And while IH may not be saved forever, launching it from Hulk's book has at least given Herc a book that will last some two years, a difficult feat for any new launch no matter how it is done. Neither Marvel or DC have made any launch last beyond three years for quite some time, and cracking that riddle may be the new struggle of the decade. Having INCREDIBLE HULK, INCREDIBLE HERCULES and HULK all existing at the same time when all three connect to each other's issue numbers defies all logical sense, but that's Joe's EIC tenure for you; putting the "I" in "idiot savant". Thankfully, Herc presents the savant portion.
- Eddie Brock is in his own mini series again, as "Anti-Venom". Both this and SPIDER-MAN: THE CLONE SAGA have me convinced that everyone in Marvel editorial is convinced it is 1993 and that the same things that worked then will work now. I wonder if we will ever live to see the day when Marvel and DC present a genuinely new idea again, instead of rehashing old ones. No one cares about Eddie Brock. His peak was at least 12 years ago, and he isn't coming back. Move. On. And by the way, the fans who are ravenous for Kaine and Ben Reilly should be ashamed of themselves; Joe Q mentions then at every CUP O' JOE interview to justify how every story has it's fans, and thus uses it as justification for all of his ass-backwards theories about what needs to be done with some franchises, which instead sucks potential from them; M-Day is the glaring example. Your desperation for the worst storyline in comic book history has emboldened the current EIC to disregard all caution and assume every idea of his is immaculate brilliance. Every time someone at a con begs for more Kaine or Reilly, you merely tell Joe Q, "continue to be crap, because even crap has it's fans." I'd feel bad for such fans for being made into ideological pawns, but they bring it upon themselves.
- "Marvel Thinks It Is 1993 - Continued": PSYLOCKE #1, really? Her heyday was, again, some 15 years ago. No one cares about her, at least not enough to buy a spin off mini. She's not Wolverine. Hell, she's not even Gambit. Or Mystique, who once supported her own ongoing for two years. Zeb Wells is a decent writer but I see no point to this, besides expanding an X-Line that has been, well, a shadow of itself for years.
- I love that the X-BABIES are returning. The original joke of the X-BABIES were that they were the living embodiment of bad editorial decisions, specifically churning out X-Men spin off's without care or thought, just to print cash. And now they are returning. Can't make this up, folks.
- UNCANNY X-MEN FIRST CLASS continues to look exciting, and issue #5 has a great cover. I may be the only one reading and enjoying this, but no matter.
- SWORD #1 launches, another X-spin off at a time when the X-Men line can barely support a token teen X-book. To be fair, this is partly attached to space, and Marvel has been pleasantly surprised by the steady cult audience the space line has brought them; attaching the Inhumans and some spare X-Men into WAR OF KINGS certainly helped keep sales around the 40k range, which is great for a space event. SWORD, though, has little to do with that. It's about Joss Whedon's run on AXM, with Agent Brand (who is a cipher), Beast (who has never supported his own book since AMAZING ADVENTURES in the 70's), and Lockheed (a perennial mascot). Cassaday's cover in color looks nice, and to be fair the premise isn't that bad. It won't sell, though, and sadly Beast isn't enough of a draw for me to spent $4 on this. Making the debut issue $4 is, again, very prohibitive to give it a chance for most people. Now if Colossus were on this book too...
- DEADPOOL TEAM-UP at least pokes fun at Marvel's ludicrous system for numbering comics.
- To be honest, the cover of CAPTAIN AMERICA: REBORN #5 seems a bit generic. I appreciate that the solicit has the balls to claim that Steve Rogers' return isn't a foregone conclusion. That's like Superman failing to return in a story called SUPERMAN LIVES. At any rate, while it isn't Brubaker's best work so far, and it robs Barnes of any story potential he had earned, it probably will be more readable and exciting than other "events" written by people whose name rhymes with, "Cycle M. Rendis".
- MARVELS PROJECT #4 of 8; I wasn't sure it was an eight part mini. I guess Epting wasn't planning to return to CA after REBORN ended, or just has a lot of lead time. At any rate, this may shape up to be a better actual story than REBORN. The first issue was a pleasant surprise and I can't wait for more of this.
- GHOST RIDERS: HEAVEN'S ON FIRE #4 looks great. Jason Aaron has been a godsend for that book. Now we'll have some baddies of GR coming back as well. Looks like a helluva ride.
- "Marvel Thinks It Is 1993, Part 5:" DEATHLOK #1. Again, DEATHLOK's heyday was 15 years ago. Hudlin has hardly been capable of keeping a bigger name like BLACK PANTHER high on sales without constant reboots or event tie-in's. This won't sell, and books like this make me believe that Marvel's Launch department consists of a dartboard with every one of Marvel's past publishing projects they ever had on it, and every month someone takes a throw, and that is what is launched again. So this month it is DEATHLOK, X-BABIES and PSYLOCKE. Next month will it be U.S. ONE, THUNDER-RIDERS and NFL SUPERPRO? Believe it or not, SUPERPRO made it 12 issues and the first bunch sold quite well. Sure, everything sold in the 90's, but hush. Reality means nothing.
- FANTASTIC FOUR #573 hints that Hickman will play with Millar's Nu Earth dimension during his run. That sounds interesting, I imagine it will work better than FANTASTIC FORCE (another relaunch of something that sold in the early 90's that, GASP, tanked). I wish Hickman luck, and by November we should be able to tell if his run will be superior to Millar's and McDuffie's.
- IMMORTAL WEAPONS #5 looks interesting. Dusting off John Amon from some forgotten Golden Age comics was a stroke of brilliance in IRON FIST and he could use some more fleshing. This mini has been solid so far.
- Not sure on the BLACK KNIGHT one shot. I would have bought it for Dane, not Percy.
- Solicits for INVINCIBLE IRON MAN sure took that Eisner win to heart quickly. At any rate, I am curious what Fraction does here, on a title that has been on fire since DARK REIGN gave him a stronger premise for Iron Man. I just worry if he is taking the "Stark loses his intellect" angle too far. People expect him to be an uber genius.
- The uptick of Iron Man products for the sequel film begins in earnest.
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t: at Deadpool Team-up's numbering joke
