Marvel Previews for September

Lee: Well, Marvel seems to be having a so-so month in terms of new material. Lots of tie ins to WW Hulk and X-men: Endangered Species. Really good if you are involved with that stuff. Kinda weak otherwise.
Jim: I would agree. I thing one month we may have to comment on just ongoing series as opposed to the focus on new stuff.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #544 Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI Pencils & 50/50 Cover by JOE QUESADA "One More Day," Part 1 of 4 Get ready for what will be the most talked-about and controversial comic event of the year -- brought to you by J. Michael Straczynski and Joe Quesada. The stakes have never been higher for Peter Parker. At his darkest hours -- and he's had plenty -- Peter has always had one shoulder to lean on, one person who'd remind him who he is, who he was, and who he can be. Now he's about to lose that person. What would he do...what would you do, if you only had "One More Day?" PLUS: Director's Cut style extras!
Lee: Well, Jim says I need to mention more on-going titles. Look here. Another world shattering, earth shaking, super cataclysmic event. Whoooppppeeeee. I still don’t care. The good news is Joey Q is on art duties so this should see print this year… right?
Jim: Hey if they are actually killing Aunt May I can sign up for it. The funny think is if they really wanted to make this special they should hire Ditko (is he still alive) to do a cover or something.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE CHOSEN #1 & 2 (of 6) Written by David Morrell Pencils Mitch Breitweiser New York Times best-selling novelist and creator of Rambo, David Morrell, takes on Captain America in CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE CHOSEN--a six-issue Marvel Knights limited series in the tradition of SPIDER-MAN: REIGN! Super-star-to-be Mitch Breitweiser provides the finest art of his career as he chronicles the last days of Captain America.. 32 PGS. (each) CARD STOCK ...$3.99 (each)
Jim: The story is Cap saves a soldier in Afghanistan and at the end the solider is not sure if it was really Cap or not. This is an easy pass. I much rather read Brubaker’s work.
Lee: This should be good but it is being handled really poorly. David Morrell already gave the entire story away. $4 for 32 pages. I can't see me getting this either.

NOVA #6 Cover by ADI GRANOV
Lee: And Marvel’s winner for “embarrassed to be a fanboy” cover goes to… drum roll… Nova 6. Don’t know what the story is about but I seem to keep coming back to this cover.
Jim: On the plus side this has been a really well done series and certainly doesn’t need this type of titillation. Do these covers make the sales go up?

IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN #12 Written by ROBERT KIRKMAN Art by PHIL HESTER & ANDRE PARKS FINAL ISSUE! blah blah this final issue of the series everyone who read loved! So get your 'Save Irredeemable Ant-Man' campaigns ready. Hey, it worked for Runaways and She-Hulk. Why not Ant-Man?
Lee: I don’t understand this series. People who read it love it and it just seems to be gaining steam. Oh well. I do like the reference to the “Save Antman Campaigns”.
Jim: This is a book I dropped and was convinced to try again and I have stayed on it. Still I can not recommend it. It has it’s moments, but it is far from Kirkman’s best stuff.

IRON MAN: ENTER THE MANDARIN #1 (of 6) Written by JOE CASEY Pencils & Cover by ERIC CANETE Warming up for the movie event of 2008 -- find out exactly how Iron Man's deadliest nemesis came to be. A tale from the early days of the Marvel Universe, this mini-series contains secrets never-before-revealed of the first-ever meeting between the Golden Avenger and the global terrorist known only as the Mandarin! What really happened during that first encounter?
Lee: Warming up for the movie in 2008? A little bit ahead of the curve aren’t they? Oh well. It has Eric Canete art which is to die for. Buy it for that reason alone.
Jim: If I’m going to buy a book for just the art, I’ll wait for the trade.

MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS #1 Written by Marc Guggenheim, STUART & KATHYRN IMMONEN, STUART MOORE, RICH KOSLOWSKI Penciled by STUART IMMONEN, CLAYTON HENRY & DAVE WILKINS Classic heroes! Top talent! All-new stories! Jump on board the landmark first issue of MARVEL COMICS PRESENTS! 4--count 'em 4--brand new stories with a landmark wrap-around cover by J. Scott Campbell! Inside, you'll find these incredible mysteries: Who is DAMIEN CROSS? Why will his murder shake the very foundations of the Marvel Universe? Why is SPIDER-MAN needed in outer space? Patsy Walker is HELLCAT. But then who's the other HELLCAT? What is the SYSTEM? And what does it mean for the future of super heroes? Extra-sized first issue! 48 PGS./Rated A ...$3.99
Lee: A monthly with 4, 8 page stories. I see this crashing and burning early. It didn’t work for DC when they did the showcase series (late 90’s version). It didn’t work in Marvel Comics Presents Vol 1. Why do they think it will work now?
Jim: Really good points. It should be especially amusing as most writers today can’t tell a story in less then four full issues, so let’s see if anyone has the chops to write short stories anymore.

FRANKLIN RICHARDS: MONSTER MASH Written by MARC SUMERAK & CHRIS ELIOPOULOS Cover and Art by CHRIS ELIOPOULOS Things get frightful this Fall as Franklin Richards returns to explore the deepest, darkest corners of his father's lab. Join Franklin and H.E.R.B.I.E. as they unleash all kinds of monstrous adventure! It's five brand new tales that will be so much fun it's downright scary!
Lee: These are really, really fun. I wish they would collect them in a trade already.
Jim: I have never gotten into this and the few I read were not as funny as Lee and others seem to think. I guess I rather read Calvin and Hobbes.

PENANCE: RELENTLESS #1 (of 5) Written by PAUL JENKINS Pencils and Cover by PAUL GULACY From the pages of Civil War: Front Line and Thunderbolts! Once he was a hero, now only a shell of Robbie Baldwin remains. As Penance, he begins a slow descent into madness: the most hated man in America, blamed for the disaster at Stamford, tortured by visions of his failure and obsessed with strange, seemingly meaningless numbers. A relentless pursuit begins...
Lee: Fine. I’ll say it. I want Speedball back. This sucks.
Jim: Why in god’s name would you want a light hearted fun hero when you can have an S&M nightmare come to life. The 612 spikes that dig into his skin causing excruciating pain that gives rise to his power. Yeah, much better then a fun loving ball of kinetic energy.

FANTASTIC FOUR OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC Written by STAN LEE & JACK KIRBY Cover & pencils by JACK KIRBY Collects FANTASTIC FOUR - issues #1-30 and Annual #1 848 pgs/ All Ages...$99.99 UNCANNY X-MEN OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC Written by CHRIS CLAREMONT & LEN WEIN Penciled by JOHN BYRNE & DAVE COCKRUM Collects UNCANNY X-MEN #94-131 and ANNUAL #3, and GIANT-SIZE X-MEN #1. 848 PGS./Rated T+...$99.99
Lee: Check it out. Marvel is re-releasing the Omnibus collections they said they weren’t going to rerelease. I bet there is a fanboy or two who paid 2-3x cover on ebay that’s really pissed right now! My favorite part… DC screwed the retailer with the variant cover thing and Marvel screws the buyer. Between the big two they get ya coming and going.
Jim: Once you say no re-release this is wrong.
Lee: And, did you notice the FF is “all ages” and the X-men is “T+”? What does that make X-Men 2007? NC-17?
Jim: Good question.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: THE FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 5 (II) Written by STAN LEE Penciled by JACK KIRBY Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR #41-50 and ANNUAL #3
Lee: And speaking of rereleases… The limited edition, variant cover goes back to print too. Makes the limited edition, variant cover on my bookshelf just about valueless now. Thank you Marvel! Would it have killed them to make it a little bit different?
Jim: Ha, ha, ha. I missed this, but I got the variant cover to keep a thematic thing going on with the Masterworks.

CAPTAIN AMERICA BY ED BRUBAKER OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC Written by ED BRUBAKER Penciled by STEVE EPTING, MIKE PERKINS, MICHAEL LARK, MARCOS MARTIN & LEE WEEKS Cover by STEVE EPTING Collecting CAPTAIN AMERICA #1-25, CAPTAIN AMERICA 65TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL and WINTER SOLDIER: WINTER KILLS. 720 PGS./Rated T+ ...$74.99
Lee: This was good but an Omnibus? Nope. Not for me. AND, since I complained about Speedball, I shall complain about Bucky. A farce!!!! Total farce. Kill him again already.
Jim: Leave Bucky alone, he is a good add right now as is Jason Todd. I was hoping for the 12 issue hard covers of this stuff, but I’ll buy this. 25 issues, plus the special is a higher cover price then the book and this is an excellent run.

THUNDERBOLTS BY WARREN ELLIS VOL. 1: FAITH IN MONSTERS PREMIERE HC Written by WARREN ELLIS, PAUL JENKINS & MARC GUGGENHEIM Penciled by MIKE DEODATO, STEVE LIEBER, MARC SILVESTRI & LEINIL YU Collecting THUNDERBOLTS #110-115 and DESPERATE MEASURES, and T-Bolts stories from CIVIL WAR: THE INITIATIVE and CHOOSING SIDES. 184 PGS ...$24.99
Lee: Now this is tempting. The single issues are reading so well so this just might have to come home.
Jim: I’ll wait till a bigger collection is put together. I’m avoiding the six issue or smaller hard covers for the most part.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: NICK FURY, AGENT OF S.H.I.E.L.D. VOL. 1 HC Written by STAN LEE, JACK KIRBY, ROY THOMAS & DENNIS O'NEIL Penciled by JACK KIRBY, JIM STERANKO, Collecting STRANGE TALES #135-153, TALES OF SUSPENSE #78 and FANTASTIC FOUR #21. Lee: Jack Kirby, Steranko, Buscema’s first work at Marvel… need I say more?
Jim: It is about frelling time. I have been dying for this Masterworks forever. Now let’s do another one on SHIELD, finish the Human Torch Strange Tales stuff and do an Iron Man Masterworks.

GHOST RIDER: TRAIL OF TEARS PREMIERE HC Written by GARTH ENNIS Penciled by CLAYTON CRAIN Collecting GHOST RIDER: TRAIL OF TEARS #1-6.
Lee: And, my weakness for westerns shows. I didn’t hear much about this but it looks very, very pretty. Crain is a solid artist. Most likely coming home.
Jim: This is a huge pass. This was from all reports a crap story and no matter how pretty the art, to get on the book case it needs more then pure art.

AVENGERS/DEFENDERS WAR PREMIERE HC Written by STEVE ENGLEHART Penciled by BOB BROWN & SAL BUSCEMA Collecting AVENGERS #115-118 and DEFENDERS #8-11.
Lee: Great silverage material. Thankfully I never got the original trade so I won’t be paying for this material twice. But, it’s still coming home. Did you notice the variant cover is way ugly?
Jim: I never got the trade either, so this was an easy I’ll buy it.

SILENT WAR TPB Written by DAVID HINE Penciled by FRAZER IRVING Collecting SILENT WAR #1-6
Lee: For me, this is a pure art book. Irving’s art is outstanding. I’ve heard good things about the story too. Hopefully, my lack of knowledge about the “House of M” storyline won’t hurt my reading this.
Jim: Nope it won’t. And in addition to Irving’s art you are getting a very compelling story to date. Enjoy it.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: RED: WHITE & BLUE TPB Written by PAUL DINI, BRUCE JONES, PAUL POPE, PETER KUPER, MAX ALLAN COLLINS, MARK WAID, EVAN DORKIN, DAN JURGENS, JEN VAN METER, JOHN RHETT THOMAS & MORE! Penciled by ALEX ROSS, BRUCE TIMM, PAUL POPE, PETER KUPER, FRANK QUITELY, DEAN HASPIEL, DAVID LLOYD, PASCUAL FERRY, EVAN DORKIN, MIKE DEODATO, STUART IMMONEN, KEVIN MAGUIRE & MORE! AVAILABLE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TRADE PAPERBACK! In this thought-provoking original graphic novel, a world-class collection of top comic-book creators from around the globe presents a series of uniquely personal visions of the heroic icon that is Captain America! RED: WHITE & BLUE roams between the humorous and the serious, the farcical and the personal invoking the power people give over to Captain America. In all, more than fifty creators have crafted timeless stand-alone stories each told with a color palette limited to Cap's signature colors of red, white and blue! In addition to these original short stories, this anthology reprints the back-up stories in CAPTAIN AMERICA #50 (2002) and MARVEL SPOTLIGHT: CAPTAIN AMERICA REMEMBERED.
Lee: I was just looking at this HC the other day. It’s a great collection of stories with lots of good art. You really can’t go wrong with this.
Jim: Eh --- I can’t buy it, but I can understand the temptation.

LOKI TPB Written by ROBERT RODI Penciled by ESAD RIBIC Cover by ESAD RIBIC In this surprising tale, writer Robert Rodi views Asgard from a most unexpected perspective: that of Loki himself. After a lifetime of disgrace and humiliations, Loki has finally won his most cherished prize: command of all Asgard. With Odin overthrown, Thor held helpless in chains and Sif imprisoned, Loki is at long last master of the realm. With the kingdom in his hands, Loki at last discovers the truth about himself and his destiny. Featuring lushly painted pages by artist Esad Ribic, LOKI presents a never-before-told version of classic Asgardian mythology. Acclaimed by critics and fans alike, this startling story will shock and surprise even the most ardent Thor reader.
Lee: And speaking of new trades, if you haven’t seen Ribic’s art in Loki you are missing out. The story is really good too as Loki tries to fight his destiny. It’s a great story with even better art.
Jim: I may have to break down and buy this one. I have heard other’s also rave about it.

Lee: Well, another month down. There is some good stuff from Marvel. Not thrilled with the rerelease of HC’s but the Strange Tales masterworks trumps all bad feelings.
Jim: For me the SHEILD Masterworks is a holy grail thing. I have been waiting for this one for years, so no matter what else or how lame the rest is, I’m a happy camper this month.