Thoughts/Rants:
- The solicit for GHOST RIDER #1 says that Blaze has been chained to Hell long enough. Didn't the last ongoing series, launched by Daniel Way, establish his true power as coming from Heaven? And didn't he spend the Aaron run fighting an evil angel? Then got summoned like a Pokemon by Kingpin to fight Daredevil in SHADOWLAND? It sure is tough keeping track of things with him. I wonder how Ketch fans feel now that Blaze has officially stolen his powers, design, chain, AND EVEN BIKE from him, leaving Ketch a husk of a character.
- I love how the July solicits show one of The Worthy in shadow, despite them releasing to Bleeding Cool that said Worthy man is The Thing. It makes as much sense as wrapping a comic in a bag to prevent leaked spoilers, then leaking said spoilers yourself to the Daily News. One hand never knows what the other is doing around the Marvel bullpen. And I know it isn't really a bullpen, but could it at least try to be a modestly organized lemonade stand?
- What is this - an issue of SECRET AVENGERS focusing on Black Widow? Rubbish! Every issue is to focus on Steve Rogers, and the other heroes are his supporting cast, at best. Right, this is the Nick Spencer fill in run. Should be an interesting three months.
- The FEAR ITSELF deluge begins. As Red already said, it is looking a lot like WORLD WAR HULK, only with Thor Hammer Knock-Offs and preachy hand wringing about the economy and how stupid people are. Some events have crossovers in ongoing titles and not so many spare mini's. Others have mostly spare mini's and one shots and few crossovers with ongoings. This has BOTH a lot of crossovers and spin-offs. I'll stick with the core mini, and I will get some of the spare material. But I am not getting any crossover of any series I was not already getting. As it is, the problem is this series doesn't seem to be about much besides capturing a social allegory, an Asgardian paternity test and some Maguffins that bring with them a redesign and a power boost. And aimless battle, of course. Will one of THE WORTHY lose in an issue of FEAR ITSELF or a low selling crossover issue? Likely the former. Although to be honest, many of the tie-ins seem to be focused on stories about panic, so FEAR ITSELF may be a return to all the screaming hysteria of the CIVIL WAR era - only without as much direct blame on Republicans. I just hope FEAR ITSELF #2 won't merely be about who the Worthy are, since the Internet has told us all in advance. I hate when comics do that; imagine seeing a trailer for a move titled "ABOUT A BOAT" and you pay your $12 and all you learn is that it's about a boat. Well, whoopie-freakin' da.
- I love how apparently Marvel can't figure out if the title is FEAR ITSELF: THE DEEP or FEAR ITSELF: DEFENDERS, depending on which website you visit. Bleeding Cool claimed the latter.
- So...in FEAR ITSELF: SPIDER-MAN, Spidey is fighting the Thing, while in FF, its a merry "ignoring space comics" issue where Blue Bolt fights Ronan. What's continuity?
- I will try out ALPHA FLIGHT. So, Puck's in jail instead of hell?
- AVENGERS ACADEMY #16 looks good, as always. Marvel intends to keep this series going until #20, when the FEAR ITSELF tie in ends. Its sales right now seem to be holding steady above 23,600 copies - about where NOVA was its last year. Now if only to retain it!
- Herc vs. Hecate in HERC. Is it a battle over three letters in a name? Kidding, looks great as usual.
- THUNDERBOLTS - again, why hide the identity of the Worthy they are fighting when the cover clearly shows Juggernaut and he has been among one of the first known Worthy? I feel sorry for Parker. He clearly intended to do some sort of redemptive path for Cain Marko, and while I don't normally care for that sort of thing, I thought he was doing okay. Well, now that's going to pot because better selling writers want otherwise. Now he has to pick up the pieces. In a way, this is why I never liked "Marko goes good" stories. They never last, so they seem pointless. Hell, Parker even has someone messing with Man-Thing outside his book, too. Thinks like this are probably what made Robert Kirkman run screaming to Image and never return.
- FEAR ITSELF: YOUTH IN REVOLT looks great, and I will be getting it. Again, no use blanking out villain in the solicit when the cover clearly shows Juggernaut. If anyone honestly believes that Marvel would allow new characters like Hardball and Komodo to defeat the Juggernaut in a story that counts, well...I have some lovely Florida swampland for you. And by "new characters", I mean about 3 years old. That's still "new" in comics. Hell, Arana is still "new", and she's about 8.
- I am in for FEAR ITSELF: THE HOME FRONT mostly for the Speedball story. The Jimmy Woo story was odd, so it may depend on the rest. The Blue Marvel story actually got me to smirk - now there's an ideal Secret Avenger!
- Is Bucky going to die again? Well...Cap has to make "a hard choice" in FEAR ITSELF, which may mean killing a Worthy Bucky or donning the mantle again. His relaunch talks about a funeral, and Bucky's side series is about WWII stories. If this is a fake out, its a good one.
- AMAZING SPIDER-MAN looks solid.
- For those wondering, VENOM #1 actually had a solid debut in March - it sold in the Top 20 with just under 54k copies sold. That's not only one of Marvel's best launches of ANY ongoing series since, well, AVENGERS ACADEMY, but also the best launch of any Spidey spin off in years. Maybe there's some life in Venom after all. It is also worth noting that ASM sells about 53k in a typical month, and its .1 issue sold over 55k - thus, I believe Marvel has successfully gotten everyone who was reading ASM to try Venom, at least for a month. Now its up to Remender to keep them. VENOM #5 ties into ASM, which seems a little soon for that - especially since Venom actually has a strong central premise. But not unexpected. Note that SPIDER-GIRL debuted at just under 24k.
- At this point, I am officially off THOR. I likely may not even give JIM a chance. I just don't care anymore. And that likely exposes my fair weatheredness, because I never cared enough to actually pay for Thor comics until JMS.
- Much like Black Panther and Moon Knight, Marvel is insistent on keeping Skaar in print in his own mini series or ongoing series.
- DEFENDERS isn't the only thing from the Marvel Vault - 15-LOVE is literally a Marvel Tennis Manga starring Millie The Model that was commissioned during the Jemas era. It seems Marvel have found a slew of projects under a box during a move and figured, "We paid for it, **** it, let's sell it to the morons and maybe cut even". I'm sure there is a market for some of it, and the digest to 15-LOVE could sell in the shojo manga section. At this rate, some FROM THE VAULT issues of WHAT THE--!? should be inevitable - by the end of that series run, even Marvel's janitorial staff got to write an issue of it.
- VENGEANCE looks odd, but I already have posted at its topic. I may give it a try.
- I am iffy on trying DAREDEVIL. Waid, Rivera and Martin sound like a solid creative team, and I certainly have read DD for stretches of time before. But its another book, and another overpriced relaunch.
- I hate when the Marvel Universe has a Vs. match with Wolverine or Punisher. They always lose.
- I may try MYSTERY MEN, if only because it fills the void left by THE TWELVE, which Marvel may as well admit will never be finished because they don't have the nuts to at least have a writer crib from JMS' napkin notes like DC at least did. Marvel is daring a lawsuit from Bob Burden, who has a trademark to that name. I suppose Marvel's legal defense, if he chose to exercise this copyright, would be that he owns "MYSTERYMEN", while they have a space between. But if Marvel makes that argument and wins legally, what is to stop, say, me, from selling a comic called Spiderman, or Spider Man, or X Men? Is this a legal battle they wish to invite upon themselves? And before someone says, "Surely Marvel know better than that", note how Marvel lost their CHAMPIONS copyright to a table top RPG company, and then officially released a trailer for "WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN" set to music from the Foo Fighters without actual permission from the band, forcing it to be taken down and edited fast.
- I love how there is a sequel to WOLVERINE & BLACK CAT: CLAWS, when nobody I know asked for the first one. Marvel has got to stop publishing stuff nobody asks for if they want to save money.
- I may get on Gage's issues of ASTONISHING X-MEN. I am curious to see him handle Colossus.
- Wow, who called that AGE OF X was all inside Legion's head, huh?
- I love how an X-MEN cover showing Emma Frost in a strait-jacket still manages to show her cleavage. Soft core bondage artists would be pleased. Then again, didn't Chris Claremont get one to draw an X-LADIES comic once?
- Deadpool has been "trimmed" - from about 5 titles a month to roughly 4. Little steps for little feet.
- I feel sorry for the X-Men in SCHISM, asked to choose between Wolverine or Cyclops. A war monger for a sociopath. That reminds me of Europe after WWI - step right up, choose between the Commies or the Fascists. How about the X-Men choose a third option - let Cyclops & Wolverine kill each other in the Danger Room and choose someone sane to lead them. Maybe remind Storm she used to do other things besides be a wife once upon a time. Now, Wolverine being a violent sociopath nobody questions, but some dislike my opinion on Cyclops lately. Fine; he isn't a war monger - he simply has taken every difficult decision he has had to make, and chosen the craziest possible solution. Mutants being hunted one by one? Stick them all on an island so they can be annihilated in one fell swoop. Humans not liking you lately? Organize a hit squad of stabbers and traumatized teenagers, and hire Magneto as your PR spokesman. Vampires in your grill? Resurrect Dracula, who never has anything to do with his own kind. He's the guy who if you ask him for a quarterback play in football, suggests just offering the ball to the defense because nobody is ever dumb enough to try that, and then he does it, and then it backfires, and then if they manage to hold the line, expects to be called a savior. The X-Men'd be better off led by Beast or Iceman at this rate.
- Ah, SUPREME POWER again - that sound you hear is bloody fingers scraping at the bottom of the barrel and ripping up bits of wood. See, Marvel, look at it like this; it can take, what, about $15,000 to produce a typical issue of a comic book? So, NOT drafting a mini like this nobody wants can save you roughly $60,000, which is money to spend on NOT SELLING #1 ISSUES FOR FOUR ****ING DOLLARS (or, X-Men royalty money to give Claremont so he can stay retired). This is called a "budget" - you trim here to save there.
- I'll say this - if BRILLIANT doesn't live up to the title, the reviews are going to be ugly. Next: Mark Millar's latest Icon release, "MY **** IS BIGGER".
- So, Grant Morrison's 1234 is getting a collection. This has nothing to do with him outselling Bendis for ages now, right? Bet Marvel is annoyed they let him slip by. Unfortunately, Morrison can only do a shortened sequel, because 789.
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