Marvel November Solicitations

[Dread]

Dread, while I agree with your point about Ben Reilly and Kaine (but not Psylocke), I think it's pretty narrow-minded to say that using such characters is stupid/unnecessary simply because their peak was years ago. Isn't a big part of comics rejuvenating characters that have fallen by the wayside? Isn't that exactly what DnA have done with Nova and the entire cosmic universe?

Rejuvenating a character involves doing something different with them, not doing the same thing that was done 12-15 years ago. In the 90's, Marvel's angle for Eddie Brock was to make him a "lethal protector" - i.e. an anti-hero, who was all the rage in the 90's. It worked for a few years; albeit never enough to launch a Venom ongoing, but a string of annual mini's. It ran it's course by the end of the 90's and ended. Brock as a character has not been better for it. Now, ironically, I was a fan of Venom but I actually grew up and realized it wasn't handled well, and Venom's characterization was all over the place.

Now? Marvel is doing the same thing, just gave Venom a color swap and named him "Anti-Venom".

Nova, more to the point, did not represent a 90's editorial cluster**** of fear and loathing of a married Spider-Man, like Reilly did. He did not represent telling fans that the Spidey they loved for a generation was a worthless clone, and could they please stop whining and accept the new guy. If Brubaker displayed the prime example of how to do a "passing of the mask" story excellently in CAPTAIN AMERICA, then CLONE SAGA showed how to fail at it on every possible level.

Before ANNIHILATION, it had been some 5 years since Nova starred in a mini or ongoing attempt. By the time his ongoing came out afterward, it had been over 25 years since his original 70's run ended. He had had time to rest. More to the point, what was done with him was more unique than what had been done with him. By and large, most of Nova's stories took place on Earth, with him serving as a young hero with potential. The relaunch took him from Earth and finally had him step up. He also had not been destroyed or destroyed something else via historically bad editorial decisions.

More to the point, Joe Q uses Reilly fans as an excuse to justify any decision he has, because he goes, "Look, once upon the time, everyone hated the Clone Saga, and now fans come out of the woodwork and want it back! Therefore, anything someone may be critical of me for doing now will be popular years down the road, all criticism of my decisions is for naught and nothing I do is a misfire". And his logic isn't completely without reason. And that's the tragedy of it. You have to stop the cycle. If you want Joe Q to learn the impression that he is not King Midas who turns everything to gold, then you have to let go of some things. The "theory" of what Ben Reilly "coulda/shoulda" been is far superior to anything the character was or did in reality, and better than anything that can or could be done to him in the future. Let him go. Mindless nostalgia alone is not a strategy.

Much as, to be frank, if the Ultimate line's relaunch does well, Marvel will believe that ULTIMATUM was a successful story.

My overall point is that the comic book industry desperately needs new ideas, new strategies, and more innovation. Rehashing concepts that were running dry before Bill Clinton's second term is not the answer.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Hmmmm...... reading the solicit for Captain America: Reborn #5 has given me a thought for how this could possibly end.

Did anybody see the last ever episode of Twin Peaks? "How's Annie? How's Annie? HOW'S ANNIE?"

Do you think we might get some kind of ending where it seems like a big triumphant happy reunion, Steve Rogers is alive again, everyone's happy, time to celebrate. Then, when he's alone, we discover it's the Red Skull in control of his body after all?

 

[Drz]

Regarding Iron Man vs. Whiplash #1

Meet the all-new, all-different, all-deadly WHIPLASH in this special in-continuity lead-in to the Iron Man 2 movie. Who is Anton Vanko and why does he blame Tony Stark for the murder of thousands? For that matter, why does the United Nations?

Are they making Anton Vanko a canon character for 616 or this a comic for the Iron Man 2 movie?

 

[Drz]

Meh double.

 

[Dread]

Hmmmm...... reading the solicit for Captain America: Reborn #5 has given me a thought for how this could possibly end.

Did anybody see the last ever episode of Twin Peaks? "How's Annie? How's Annie? HOW'S ANNIE?"

Do you think we might get some kind of ending where it seems like a big triumphant happy reunion, Steve Rogers is alive again, everyone's happy, time to celebrate. Then, when he's alone, we discover it's the Red Skull in control of his body after all?

That's possible, but that could be seen as a tease or cop-out ending. Although it would allow Barnes to stick around, so I personally wouldn't mind it too much. Red Skull's tried to take over Rogers' body before, just always failed. Brubaker's defined his role on CA by doing what he felt other writers teased at doing but failed, specifically reviving Bucky.

I don't think Marvel editorial is that smart with a movie coming, though. Even money would still be on Rogers returning.

Regarding Iron Man vs. Whiplash #1


Are they making Anton Vanko a canon character for 616 or this a comic for the Iron Man 2 movie?

Vanko I believe was one of the Crimson Dynamo's. So that would explain why a relative would have issue with Iron Man.

 

[Drz]

Aaah so Anton Vanko is a new character but his connection to Crimson Dynamo came from the surname? I'm a Iron Man noob and i just heard that Anton Vanko was the whole name of some Crimson Dynamo. ^^

 

[Keyser Soze]

Aaah so Anton Vanko is a new character but his connection to Crimson Dynamo came from the surname? I'm a Iron Man noob and i just heard that Anton Vanko was the whole name of some Crimson Dynamo. ^^

Anton Vanko was the original Crimson Dynamo. The version of Whiplash Mickey Rourke is playing in the film is called IVAN Vanko, a character who has never appeared in the comics. However, I think this mini-series is supposed to be introducing IVAN Vanko to the Marvel Universe, and Anton is just a typo by someone with Crimson Dynamo on the brain.

 

[Drz]

Okay man thanks alot for explaining everythhing now then. Now i don't feel like a complete noob! :P

 

[CaptainCanada]

The solicit say it's a "special in-continuity lead-in" to the movie, which would seem to suggest it's film continuity, not MU.

 

[Specter313]

I was under the impression that they were ending the main book, replacing it with the backups in Herc and some other team-up book, and then after that they were going to relaunch AoA.

I believe I read that somewhere as well. I think it was a X-Position interview with Parker or something over on CBR.

 

[bryanss3]

I'll be picking up ASM for the Gauntlet arc. UXM looks promising - looks like Emma's still an X-Man from the cover, and I'm glad Namor's still gonna be in the mix - as do Dark X-Men and SWORD.

The Gauntlets not really an arc its going to be throughout the next year in ASM. it's nice to see Electro back though. Rhino's up after him

 

[Silver Knight]

Kewl, cant wait.

 

[Silver Knight]

Who is the guy on the Son of Hulk 17 cover?

 

[Tron Bonne]

Hmmmm...... reading the solicit for Captain America: Reborn #5 has given me a thought for how this could possibly end.

Did anybody see the last ever episode of Twin Peaks? "How's Annie? How's Annie? HOW'S ANNIE?"

Do you think we might get some kind of ending where it seems like a big triumphant happy reunion, Steve Rogers is alive again, everyone's happy, time to celebrate. Then, when he's alone, we discover it's the Red Skull in control of his body after all?

That will be quite an interesting development if that ends up being true. I'm sure even if that's the case Steve will eventually be back to regular Steve, but that could really make for interesting turns down the road

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Marvel IGN previews; and the word is on on Thor's new writer:

For six issues, anyway.

Gillen's got to have some kind of record for speedily rising; in recent years only Matt Fraction comes close in terms of rapid ascent.

After Godhunter, I'm fully okay with Gillen stepping in to write Thor.

Unfortunately, I'm not at all okay with the fact that he's paired with Billy Tan, whose work comes off extremely sloppy and ugly to me. Goddamnit, Thor's gonna take one of the biggest nosedives in artistic quality I can recall in recent years.

 

[Silver Knight]

Who is the guy on the Son of Hulk 17 cover?

Anyone?

 

[Colossal Spoons]

X-Solicits, for those who are into that sort of thing :

http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=22570

Seriously though, SWORD does have me interested. t: at Deadpool Team-up's numbering joke

Magneto comes back finally!

 

[TheCorpulent1]

How long do you think he'll stick around this time? 2 arcs? 3?

 

[Spider-ManHero12]

Awesome, awesome, and more awesome. They look and sound great, I'm looknig foward to Punisher Max#1. Going to be great having Jason Aaron and Steve Dillon working on it.

 

[Kirk Langstrom]

The Hercules stuff looks excellent!

 

[Dread]

More thoughts (hopefully less pessimistic):

- It seems the DR: THE LIST SPIDER-MAN has been made to $4 with a reprint of THE PULSE #5 added to it. Hmm.

- AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE #30 seems to feature the two warring factions having to unite against Trauma's daddy dearest, Nightmare! I wonder if Trauma will ever meet his sister, that daughter of Nightmare who popped up in Incredible Hulk ages ago. At any rate, Sandoval's art is good (aside for him forgetting that Tigra has a tail), and it looks to be a lock. Sales are starting to slip on this title since Slott left, but it should make it to a third year.

- So later issues of BROTHER VOODOO are $3? So only Number One issues are $4? That is, the one issue that either hooks or repels a reader and is essential to try for a new series to survive is the highest priced issue of the series? That is so utterly backward and short sighted, words fail.

- MIGHTY AVENGERS #31 has a cool cover, cool guest stars, and apparently a new artist in Sean Chen. This series can't seem to keep any artist for more than 2-3 issues, and I am wondering if that inconsistancy is a problem. At any rate, Slott is obviously building his new villain the Unspoken as well as reuniting with Gage as co-writer again. This series has been pretty good since the end of the Bendis reign and I look forward to the climax.

- NOMAD: GIRL WITHOUT A WORLD #3 claims Rikki Barnes/Nomad/Bucky from Counter-Earth will be fighting the Secret Empire. Hmm. The Secret Empire were one of many random cabals of villains who didn't get as much publicity and last as long as, say, the Hellfire Club, AIM, or HYDRA, but hovered in the background of some D-titles, much like The Corporation does. I may give this a try, although if Sean McKeever is back, I would be curious what he will get to write his character GRAVITY again. Rikki also seems to be dating someone named "John". Wonder if it will be someone we know or "some guy"?

- Spidey's getting pretty close to some superheroines on the covers of MS. MARVEL and NEW AVENGERS. Will he have drunken "responsible" co-ed sex with them, too?

- GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #20 promises another shake-up as it seems "The Fault", caused by the Vulcan/Bolt fight, will be a running theme across a few space books. I wonder if Groot will pick up some new words. This is a solid book, so more is always good.

- NOVA #31 promises a showdown between Nova and Darkhawk, now wanted for Lilandra's murder (which his body committed, but not him). They're both be playing in the Fault along with GOTG, too.

- The aftermath of WAR OF KINGS, REALM OF KINGS start; also written by Abnett & Lanning, this now will mark 5 titles this month by the dynamic space duo. Crazy! REALM OF KINGS seems more like WAR OF KINGS #7 that offers an epilogue, with mini's for the INHUMANS and the IMPERIAL GUARD. I don't know if I will buy both mini's, especially for $4 an issue. Maybe on INHUMANS, unlikely on GUARD. The one-shot is a lock, though

- Mark Waid has his go on STRANGE, or "THE MAN FORMERLY KNOWN AS THE SORCERER SUPREME". Marvel's answer to deal with Dr. Strange was to strip away many of his strengths. That's either a bold new idea or a desperate tactic. We'll see how Waid handles it. Marvel also is hoping you will pay $4 an issue for Doctor Strange.

- The next writer on THOR will apparently be Kieron Gillen, who is also launching SWORD this month. Hmm. It seems JMS will leave the storyline more or less hanging, with Asgard in Latveria and Loki still in bed with Doom. He seems to always leave titles in shambles or hanging, if he finishes them at all, so I am not surprised. Billy Tan on art has not usually impressed me; he shifts from competent to stiff. I love how they note Gillen's past works and it is nothing any reasonable fan would have read. Yeah, everyone was beating down the shop doors for NEWUNIVERSAL. Or not. He could be good, but I have no experience with the writer. I'll be fair and give him a few issues on THOR, seeing as how I nitpicked JMS endlessly on it. INCREDIBLE HERCULES will likely still be the better god book.

- "Marvel thinks it is 1993, Part 6" (see page one of this topic for the prior five). X-Man is returning in DARK X-MEN. Now, to be fair, his title lasted until 2000, at the start of the Quesada/Jemas era. But here's another character whose heyday was not only about 10-15 years ago, but who is utterly redundant because Cable is back and still in his own title. X-Man is, basically, "Cable from the AGE OF APOCALYPSE Universe". Was there ever a bloody point to him, other than yet another omnipotent telepathic alternate reality whiner with a glowing eye? His story came to an end. He was fated to die, and he died. People miss him less than people miss Ben Reilly. Why is he back? Ugh. Basically, if you ever really wanted to like Cable, but would rather he be a soulless emo psychic teenager with Rogue style hair and a glow eye instead of a soulless action movie cipher with guns bigger than his torso and a glow eye, X-Man is for you. I guess the idea is, if having two versions of Wolverine is okay (three if you count X-23, who is basically Logan as a teenage girl), then having two versions of Cable again must be brilliant.

 

[Colossal Spoons]

How long do you think he'll stick around this time? 2 arcs? 3?

Haha, whatever! Mags has been off in space w/ the High Evolutionary working on restoring his x-gene. Can't wait.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I can see it now. Magneto swoops in: "Ha-ha! Now that I'm once again superior to all humans because a hyper-evolved human restored the one gene that separates me from normal humans, I will reignite my war on humanity for they are WEAK AND INFERIOR IN EVERY WAY!!!!!!11"

 

[Colossal Spoons]

I hope he's over all that. He and Charles appeared to have made some progress in X-Men Legacy.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Rikki also seems to be dating someone named "John". Wonder if it will be someone we know or "some guy"?

I don't think that's a dating thing; McKeever mentioned in an interview that a major part of the series is Rikki encountering an AU (or, I guess, MU) version of her brother.