Marvel Preview Review for January 2010 Part 2 of 3

SPIDER-MAN: THE CLONE SAGA #5 (of 6)
Written by TOM DEFALCO & HOWARD MACKIE
Penciled by TODD NAUCK
MAXIMUM CLONAGE! It’s Hoo-Ha Time as MJ goes into labor while Peter, Ben Reilly, and Kaine have a clone war for the ages…in the heart of mid-town Manhattan! Only one will walk away as the controversial crossover rockets to its mind-blowing conclusion! 32 PGS./$3.99
Lee: Here’s something to ponder. What if Peter decides he wants to ‘hang out‘ with the Black Cat for the night and asks Ben, his clone, to keep MJ occupied for the evening. If it’s also Friday night date night at the Parker house and MJ hooks up with Ben Reilly, is she still a dirty ho for cheating on Peter? Makes you wonder doesn’t it.
Jim: But in that scenario she is not cheating on Peter, since she has no clue it is Ben. Peter is the dirty ho for cheating on MJ, which leaves MJ free to divorce Peter and take half his income from the movies.

FALL OF THE HULKS: RED HULK #1 (of 4)
Written by JEFF PARKER
Penciled by CARLOS RODRIGUES & Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
FALL OF THE HULKS continues in this all-new series! What secrets will be revealed? What plans has the RED HULK been hiding from everyone? And what does all of this have to do with the COSMIC HULK robot!? Don’t miss this thrilling first chapter by JEFF PARKER (Agents of Atlas, The Hood) and CARLOS RODRIGUES (Thunderbolts)! 40 PGS./ $3.99
Jim: Oh goody, goody. Not only do we have two Hulk series we now have an extra series about the fall of the Hulks, taking up one of my favorite writers time and efforts. This sounds so lame, Cosmic Hulk robot, please stop.
Lee: AH AH AH! But, it's Jack Kirby's Cosmic Hulk Robot from the Eternals series. That makes it completely ok. You know it's getting bad when you're digging up the cosmic hulk robot.

BLACK WIDOW & THE MARVEL GIRLS #3 (of 4)Written by PAUL TOBIN
Pencils & Cover by SALVADOR ESPIN
She’s S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff, and Nick Fury has two missions for his newest recruit. First, find out everything possible about the mysterious Ms. Marvel, and deal with her if deemed necessary. Secondly, infiltrate the Red Skull’s organization and discover the location of one of the Skull’s “Sleeper” robots before it spells doom for all mankind. Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow, is soon to find that combining these two cases is the one way to stay alive. 32 PGS./$2.99
Lee: If I were a logical person, I might ask why the Black Widow, who can’t fly, is 30-40 feet ABOVE the nearest rooftop. Let’s assume Ms. Marvel dragged Black Widow into the sky. Why would BW struggle to get away? Personally, I would cling to Ms. Marvel with all I got. I would be hanging on to any tract of land or asset that would stop me from falling. But that’s just me.
Jim: And when did the Black Widow all of a sudden become the go to girl character in Marvel? She guest starts in every darn book out there and has two mini-series going right now. Who does she think she is, Wolverine?
Lee: I know it's retorical but there's an Iron Man movie coming which just might... I'm not sure... maybe have the Black Widow in it. But, the trend of having 40 appearances by Character X who just happens to be in the new Marvel Movie Y is annoying. But, at least we can plan for it later.
Jim: So if they actually make a Deadpool movie he will be in even more comics. That is a scary thought.

MARVEL ADVENTURES SUPER HEROES #19
Written by PAUL TOBIN
Penciled by IG GUARA & Cover by NIKO HENRICHON
The Avengers have barely moved into their new mansion before they have their first visitor, the super villain known as the Plant Man. But Plant Man isn’t crashing the party, he’s asking for help in his battle against a violently berserk Silver Surfer, an interstellar powerhouse intent on planting the Plant Man. How much will the Avengers put on the line to protect a super villain, and can even the assembled Avengers stand against the Power Cosmic? 32 PGS./$2.99
Lee: Here’s a question, shouldn’t the cover in some vague way indicate what the story is about? If the answer is yes, then shouldn’t the hype have something to say so that the cover and the story mesh together? If yes, then this cover & hype is a miserable fail.
Jim: Let's hope it is just some sort of mix-up, otherwise this makes no sense at all.

AVENGERS VS. ATLAS #1 (of 4)
Written by JEFF PARKER
Penciled by GABRIEL HARDMAN& Cover by HUMBERTO RAMOS
Spacetime is being selectively eroded by an unknown force. To stop the effect, the Agents of Atlas seek the help of the Avengers- and find a much earlier version of the team than they expected: Captain America, Iron Man, Wasp, Giant-Man and Thor are together again, with the atomic wildcard THE HULK! 40 PGS./ $3.99
Jim: The group that can't be kept down. Sure there regular series has been cancelled, but between this, the X-Men vs Agents book and backing up Hercules these guys are more prevalent now then when they had a series.
Lee: I do like the Agents. They are becoming the new SpiderGirl of the Marvel U.

SUPER HERO SQUAD #1
Written by TODD DEZAGO
Pencils & Cover by MITCH SCHAUER
The new ongoing series kicks off with a KABLAGABANGADINGDONGDOOBAWIBBAWABBA!!!!! Check out TWO new stories based on the hit animated series, THE SUPER HERO SQUAD SHOW! 32 PGS./ $2.99
Jim: I know Marvel is self promoting this crap and I don't begrudge them their due, but I miss the mini-Marvels, which I thought were a lot more fun. Lee: I liked the Hero Squad appearance on the cover of the Punisher the other month. You remember, the cover with Frank blowing some criminal to bits and a happy, smiley Hulk face in the corner. Loved that cover.

MARVEL BOY: THE URANIAN #1 (of 3)
Written by JEFF PARKER
Penciled by FELIX RUIZ & Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
A young man has travelled billions of miles through space in a rocket to help our world. But is Earth of the 1950's ready for a new super hero? Before he became the dark figure the Agents of Atlas call The Uranian, Bob Grayson raced through the skies as Marvel Boy! From the critically acclaimed writer of AGENTS OF ATLAS and FALL OF THE HULKS: ALPHA comes this all-new look back at one of Marvel’s first heroes! 48 PGS./ $3.99
Jim: See this is more of what I was talking about, my favorite team is getting more face time then Tony Stark was in Civil War, well maybe more face time then Quicksilver in New Avengers, but they are headliners!
Lee: I like Marvel Boy because of his history but this outfit is really, really bad. Grey? With a bubble on his head? I understand having the 50's retro costume but isn't it time to upgrade? Please?

PART 3 Tomorrow