At least most of the Thor comics actually sound good.
Perhaps to a hardcore Thor fan. I'm not, so I'll just stick to the main title, so long as Matt Fraction isn't as slow with it as he is with Iron Man.
More:
- Two issues of CHAOS WAR a month sounds good. Khoi Pham returns to Hercules after a long run as the semi-regular artist of MIGHTY AVENGERS while Reilly Brown remains to do back-up strips. Unless retailers are really fooled, this should be selling low, but it doesn't matter. Hopefully this is the sort of epic run that's rediscovered in trades and HC's and becomes an evergreen seller. It's the big conclusion to Pak & Van Lente's run and it seems Mikaboshi has changed his name to "Chaos King". Hmm. There's something both dopey and awesome about an evil Japanese god who decides to take on the cheesy name of a Batman villain. And in a way, this couldn't be a better time for GOD-SQUAD; I imagine a while ago, when JMS was playing with Thor alone, getting him to guest star for so many straight issues may have been quite an editorial chore. Now, Marvel probably wants Thor in every book they write, so he can join the God Squad proper. The line up is still something epic, although Hellstorm seriously seems like the odd guy out. I imagine he's there because he's naturally the "son of Satan" and Satan counts as a god I suppose. With him and Silver Surfer around, it's almost as much of a partial Defenders reunion as it is an Avengers reunion (Hercules, Thor, and Sersi). Part of me does think it might have been cute had Moon Knight shown up as Khonshu's avatar, but the line-up is already vast enough and he'd be underpowered. Looks awesome. Little else to say.
- SHADOWLAND #4 I guess sort of reveals that Bullseye's death wasn't going to stick, a development that was only obvious to those with eyes and homo sapien brains. I don't mind, just when one teases a death for a shocker and then undoes it just as quickly, well...it gets old. As for the SHADOWLAND tie-in's, I imagine Bendis defenders are going to point at everyone fighting ninjas and go, "Y'see, Y'SEE, other writers do it, leave Bendis The Horrendous alone!" The THUNDERBOLTS have a tie in, which makes sense as Luke Cage is involved, and why wouldn't he toss in his team of probies? SHADOWLAND: BLOOD ON THE STREETS I am getting for Shroud and Paladin, and I wonder if Antony Johnston will make a quick mention of Paladin once having Odin's Spear, and determined to keep it out of evil hands.
- SHADOWLAND: MOON KNIGHT may as well be another arc of VENGEANCE OF THE MOON KNIGHT, since Gregg Hurwitz is still writing it. It looks, frankly, more interesting than his last six issues, with Khonshu finally getting fed up with "Jake Lockley's" new, nicer demeanor and enlists a psychopath to get back to mutilating bad guys. It also seems as if Moon Knight is out to take out "the Beast", which is some Hand demon thingie. Looks interesting. I imagine Marvel figured they could maybe earn more cash with this arc as a SHADOWLAND tie in for $4 a pop rather than as more issues of the low selling Moon Knight title. They're probably right, but I hate getting rooked.
- SHADOWLAND: POWER MAN has a lot for me to like. Fred Van Lente writing, with Mahmud Asrar doing the art. A new character created by Van Lente. And Iron Fist. Hell, even Luke Cage is showing up. How could I not give this a go?
- FANTASTIC FOUR #584 seems to take the "Thing can turn human for 2 weeks a year" angle in the predictable conclusion. Of course it will kick in at a critical moment where it screws everything up. Grimm seriously should have known that the moment the deal was pitched. Surely Reed, Johnny, and Sue should have. Ben's been turned human a gazillion times for brief periods, and it has always been at some critical juncture. Of course, they could just dust off that "Thing armor suit" that Ben wore at times, but then where'd the drama be? Johnathon Hickman's run has been pretty good so far, but going down this predictable, done a trillion times route seems to be his first major stumble. There is literally no way to take this angle in a route that hasn't been done before, or makes the Four look like morons since it's happened so many times before. No possible, fathomable way. The only options seem to be either slapping Ben in that armored suit and going, "guess this is a Thursday" and playing it like that, or basically playing Grimm off as an arse kicker without it. Because another predictable tic is any super hero who loses his powers becomes 2000% more effective without them. Joss Whedon utilized that with Cyclops in the last leg of his AXM run, and I groaned. Of course Cyclops with be channeling Capt. Mal without his powers. The logic, however, dictates that if a hero becomes 2000% more effective without their powers, because they have to make up for losing them, then when those powers return, they should be more effective with them, since those new skills would transfer. To the best of my memory, in the entire history of superhero fiction, that has never happened. Or if it did, it was forgotten by the next arc or writer, proving how useless such a story track is. It's possible that Hickman has found a way to make this older than dirt Grimm subplot work in a way that no one recently has managed to make it work, but I'm curious how probable that is.
- I AM AN AVENGER seems to replace AGE OF HEROES once it ends next month. To be honest, I haven't minded the anthology. Sure, many times it is just to promote some new comic, but the stories overall have been good (or at least above average), and it gives talent a chance to break in. Greg Rucka is writing for Marvel now?
- Jeff Parker now writes for HULK with Greg Pak on INCREDIBLE HULK. ULTIMATE X remains the only series Jeph Loeb is writing with his new TV gig, and that depends how many scripts he submitted. The promotion is worth it just to get the guy away from monthly writing, as he seemed, at best, burnt out. The question will be how he handles an editorial style position with TV shows, and whether he can find and encourage talent greater or equal to than his.
- INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #31 promises a double sized finale, and is that the route it goes? Middle for 4 issues, and then the end is a double sized finale? Eh, unless this title shapes up, it may be my last. I mean, look how much fun Fred Van Lente's IRON MAN LEGACY looks in comparison! The Pride and the Serpent Society! Yay!
- More Van Lente with TASKMASTER. Essentially a spin-off to AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, I will be staggered if it sells well. But, it looks to be good entertainment, and I'll be aboard for every issue.
- I have to say, that cover to STEVE ROGERS: SUPER SOLDIER #4 is very manly. Using one flame thrower isn't enough; Rogers has to use two. Guile's Theme goes with that. Looks awesome.
- THANOS IMPERATIVE moves towards a finale, and it looks cool as usual.
- By now Fraction is on THOR, and I will be curious how slow it is. If it retains his "molasses" style of pace, I may be gone in an arc. I can't take that sort of thing anymore.
- I do question the logic of bothering to make the boss of the Bastards Of Evil a secret when solicited covers make it obvious who he is in YOUNG ALLIES. Obviously, he is or thinks he is the son of the Leader. It is possible he has manipulated his charges, as in issue two, Electro noted how improbable it could be that he has a kid. I also think Sean McKeever made an error, as it seems that Arana was not depowered in GRIM HUNT, or at least he is the only writer who thinks she is. This looks to be the end of the first arc, and I will be stunned if it isn't canceled soon after. Sales are ghastly.
- Curiously, Wolverine is back to only having one solo book. The other two are devoted to his "family", X-23 and Daken, each lamer and less interesting than the next. If Marvel was an actual professional company and not merely a conglomerate of artists pretending to be businessmen, heads would have rolled with how horribly they have played with their Wolverine franchise within the past year. Their plan was to trick WOLVERINE readers into buying Daken's book when he took it over, while making them buy a third Logan book at $4. The result was a disaster. Sales for WOLVERINE: WEAPON X staggered after issue one. WOLVERINE: ORIGINS, a maxi-series, became the flagship. DARK WOLVERINE's fizzled in sales ever since. Wolverine now sells at his lowest point in a very long time. It is possible that this was inevitable; that no character can maintain an indefinite climb in popularity forever. Marvel has long spammed Wolverine since the 90's with all the patience and good sense of a coke-head trapped in a warehouse made of cocaine. But this editorial bungle clearly made it worse. Fortunately, Marvel is a company where editorial errors, missed deadlines, etc., never get anyone fired anymore (Jim Shooter must be especially bitter), so now Marvel still believes Wolverine is healthy enough to support two spin off characters. He isn't, and they'll be shocked when their sales are abysmally bad. But I won't be. Personally, I think it's about time the Canucklehead stumbled, but we're still seeing too many of his books around. He needs to retrench. Instead it looks like a failed DC ploy: "If ______ is struggling, give it some spin off books". Marvel has employed this strategy with Spider-Man lately (since ASM's sales are healthy and steady), and it has failed every single time. How many times must the same strategy be employed over and over and over and over and over again and fail EVERY SINGLE GOD DAMNED TIME before someone in an office wises up and comes up with the primate notion of trying a new approach? It is 2010 and I swear sometimes Marvel still acts like it is 1995, or even 2005 again. It isn't. Look, standing on a panel at SDCC isn't the same as getting outside, seeing reality for what it is. Try it sometime, Marvel. It may not be pretty, but you'll be wiser for it.
- Namor is back to being called "the first mutant". It worked to boost his sales in the 90's. It won't work now. Why? It isn't the 90's anymore. I know it. You know it. So why is Marvel still staggered? I mean, the 90's ended BADLY for them. They should be totally in the now.
- Claremont is now writing two Forever titles. Interesting. They don't sell well, but apparently are meeting low (or reasonable) sales expectations.
- Okay, the solicitations to two Mark Millar comics actually weren't "balls to the wall" obnoxious. What happened? The roofie wore off and Millar forgot to call the solicit writer the next morning?