Marvel Preview Review for July Part 3 of 3

X-MEN #1
Written by VICTOR GISCHLER
Penciled by PACO MEDINA
Cover by ADI GRANOV
Blank Cover Variant Also Available
Variant Cover by JOHN ROMITA JR.
Variant Cover by OLIVIER COIPEL
Variant Cover by PACO MEDINA
Variant Cover by MARKO DJURDJEVIC
THE HEROIC AGE IS HERE!
“MUTANTS VERSUS VAMPIRES,” PART 1
When a suicide bomber strikes in downtown San Francisco, it gets the immediate attention of the X-Men. But this is not your garden variety terrorist – and he’s not acting alone. Vampires from around the globe are descending en masse on the City by the Bay, staking a brutal claim for the patch of land the X-Men call their home. What is their agenda? Who is their mysterious leader? The X-Men are about to find out, as they brace themselves for a war of the species that will wrack the Marvel Universe. 40 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Jim: Following up on the other book a brand new X-Men series. Is this crap considered actual continuity?
Lee: This just brings back happy memories of 1991 when Marvel released the first new X-men series in 20 years. It was a chance for me to own an X-men #1. AND IT CAME IN FIVE DIFFERENT COVERS. It was sooo cool. Yeah, this book reminds me of that wonderful event.

X-WOMEN #1
Written by CHRIS CLAREMONT
Pencils and Cover by MILO MANARA
International superstar Milo Manara joins X-Legend Chris Claremont for X-WOMEN! Go on a high-flying, death-defying, globetrotting adventure with your favorite X-Ladies. Storm, Psylocke, Shadowcat, Marvel Girl and Rogue save the world and look great doing it. Don’t miss this prestige event. 64 PGS./One-Shot/Rated T+ …$4.99

Jim: All my lipstick lesbian dreams come true according to this cover.
Lee: I won’t lie to you, I’m buying this for the Manara art. If you don’t know who he is, then google him. Make sure you turn your parental filters off so you can truly appreciate his art.

Jim: I looked him up, yeah this is a book I can get behind, err get for the art.

X-FORCE: SEX AND VIOLENCE #1 (of 3)
Written by CRAIG KYLE & CHRISTOPHER YOST
Art and Cover by GABRIELE DEL'OTTO
Just when you thought it was over, we pull you back in—it’s the X-Force story everyone’s been talking about, finally delivered! Wolverine and Domino have always had a special relationship, but everything goes upside down when the Assassins Guild puts out a hit on our gun wielding bombshell. Why do they want her dead? And more importantly, how many people have to die before Wolverine and Domino can spend some quality time together? Get ready for the sexiest blood-soaked ride Craig Kyle and Chris Yost have ever delivered as they join forces with international superstar Gabriele Dell'otto to offer up their final X-Force story! 32 PGS./Parental Advisory ...$3.99

Jim: Blood soaked sex, how can I say no? Like this NO!
Lee: Oh yeah. This month is a dismal failure for Jim picking books he likes. It took me two years to burn out on this stuff. It’s only taken Jim two months.

CASANOVA #1
Written by MATT FRACTION
Art by GABRIEL BÁ & FÁBIO MOON
Cover by GABRIEL BÁ
CASANOVA is back as you've never seen him before! The Eisner Award winning team of Matt Fraction (INVINCIBLE IRON MAN, UNCANNY X-MEN) and Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon (UMBRELLA ACADEMY, DAYTRIPPER, PIXU) bring their appropriately iconic book to ICON! FULL SIZE! FULL COLOR! REMASTERED and REBORN! Meet Casanova Quinn, morally flexible and terminally directionless, as he gets abducted across space and time to infiltrate his own father's E.M.P.I.R.E. of law and order. Featuring an all-new bonus story by Fraction and Moon. 40 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Jim: Maybe I will like it as a color book. I doubt it. Although I may give it one more chance.
Lee: The first series was excellent! Except for the contrived ending, but prior to that it was great. Read it in the trade to catch up and start again. It is very, very good.

SCARLET #1
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Art & Cover by ALEX MALEEV
Variant Cover by DAVID LAFUENTE
Variant Cover by MIKE DEODATO JR.
THE AWARD WINNING, BEST SELLING, POWERHOUSE CREATIVE TEAM BEHIND DAREDEVIL, HALO, AND THE AVENGERS UNLEASH THIR BOLDEST PROJECT YET! SCARLET! This is the comic experience of the year! The first creator owned series by one of the most successful teams in all of modern comics. Scarlet is the story of a woman pushed to the edge by all that is wrong with the world…A woman who decides to stand up and fight back…A woman who will not back down…A woman who discovers within herself the power to start a modern American revolution!! In the vein of Alias, Powers, and Jinx, Scarlet debuts a fascinating new comics character that, with every issue, reveals new things about herself against a completely original backdrop of intrigue and drama. Get in on the ground floor of the first creator owned series by Bendis since Powers, and the first creator owned series by Maleev…ever. (and, yes, the trademark obnoxious Bendis letter column will be here too)
40 PGS./Mature…$3.95

Jim: I’m on this book. I like Bendis and Maleeva and will give this at least 3 issues to pull me in.
Lee: I’m so Bendis’s out that I’m waiting for reviews. I’m not sure that I really care all that much.

SQUADRON SUPREME BY MARK GRUENWALD OMNIBUS HC ROSS COVER
Written by MARK GRUENWALD
Penciled by BOB HALL, PAUL RYAN, PAUL NEARY & JOHN BUSCEMA
Covers by BOB HALL & ALEX ROSS
Hyperion! Power Princess! Dr. Spectrum! The Whizzer! Nighthawk! What happens when the greatest heroes of an alternate world institute the Utopia Project, vowing to abolish war and crime, to eliminate poverty and hunger, and to cure death itself! Can they possibly succeed? And when do heroes stop being heroes? Mark Gruenwald explores the ethics of heroism in his best-known story. Guest-starring Captain America and featuring the end of a world at the hands of the Scarlet Centurion! Collecting SQUADRON SUPREME (1985) #1-12, CAPTAIN AMERICA (1968) #314 and SQUADRON SUPREME: DEATH OF A UNIVERSE. 456 PGS./Rated A …$74.99

Jim: I’m sticking with my trade, but I’m glad to see this got the Omnibus treatment.
Lee: You’re glad? Why? I remember this being good but not nearly as good as the decades have elevated it to be. Maybe I should re-read it, but I’m not sure it deserved an Omnibus.
Jim: I’m glad because this gives Gruenwald a hard cover of his seminal moment in comics, but I agree, not sure if it deserves this treatment.

THOR BY J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI OMNIBUS HC COIPEL COVER
Written by J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI
Penciled by OLIVIER COIPEL, MARKO DJURDJEVIC & DAVID AJA
Covers by OLIVIER COIPEL & MICHAEL TURNER
Witness the return of Thor in a story only J. Michael Straczynski could tell! Returned to the pantheon of great Marvel heroes, the Asgardian God of Thunder is reunited with the mortal form of Dr. Don Blake. Together, they must reckon with the legacy of the mythic Norse kingdom and the awakening of its immortal heroes – but in a world that may not want them back! J. Michael Straczynski (Babylon 5 creator, Changeling screenwriter) hits a grand slam with his reappraisal of the Thor mythos, a creative success on so many levels the glowing praise from fans and critics alike is becoming routine. Collecting FANTASTIC FOUR #536-537, THOR #1-12 & #600-603 and THOR GIANT-SIZE FINALE. 520 PGS./Rated T+ …$64.99

Jim: This one I have to get because this is what I was looking for, although a two volume set would have been my best preference I can live with this one. BTW why is this $65 for 520 pages and the Squadron Supreme at 456 pages is $75?
Lee: I’m happier with my three normal size hc’s. I don’t need the fancy treatment. I do wonder if this is another nail in the death of the market. If people don’t buy floppies and wait for the trade, then don’t buy the trade to wait for the hc, then don’t buy the hc to wait for the Omnibus, will they ever buy anything. This multiple hc format just seems like a bad idea to me.

ULTIMATUM HC MADUREIRA COVER
Written by JEPH LOEB
Penciled by DAVID FINCH & JOE MADUREIRA
Covers by JOE MADUREIRA & MICHAEL TURNER
The complete Ultimatum event packed into one massive hardcover! For what they’ve done, they must pay the ultimate price! Eastern Europe is frozen over in a new Ice Age. The Amazon is on fire with volcanic eruptions. A massive tidal wave drowns Manhattan. Heroes will rise. Heroes will fall. All will face the Ultimatum. Also, plunged into a world of shifting alliances and unknown motives, where few are who they appear to be and all are on edge wondering what will happen next, the Ultimates must feel their way through the dark maze of a conspiracy that will inevitably rock the entire world! Collecting ULTIMATUM #1-5 and ULTIMATES 3 #1-5. 272 PGS./Parental Advisory…$39.99

Jim: At least the bang for the buck is in line as since all these comics were over priced at $4 a pop, 10 x 4 = 40, so the hard cover is only as over priced as the comic.
Lee: Why are you picking this? You hated this story. And the truth about hc’s is collectors will pay whatever is asked. If they want it, and the target audience for this is definitely small, then they will buy it. High priced or not.

VAMPIRE TALES VOL. 1 GN-TPB
Written by STEVE GERBER, RON GOULART, ROY THOMAS, DON MCGREGOR, GARDNER FOX & GERRY CONWAY
Penciled by PABLO MARCOS, WIN MORTIMER, RICH BUCKLER, JESUS BLASCO, JOHN ROMITA, CARLOS GARZON, ESTEBAN MAROTO & VICENTE ALCAZAR
Cover by PABLO MARCOS
Morbius the Living Vampire and Satana the Devil's Daughter — the reluctant revenant and the sinister succubus, two of Marvel's most preternatural protagonists — up against demons, cults and mortals even more monstrous than themselves! Black-and-white horror tales from the 1970s horror boom and some of the genre's greatest talents, collected for the first time! Plus: adaptations of classic terror tales from literature!Collecting VAMPIRE TALES #1-3.
200 PGS./Black & White/Rated T+ …$19.99

Lee: This is actually the best book of the month. Vampire Tales was part of Marvel’s B&W magazine line in the 70’s when they tried to compete with Warren. This was some good stuff written without code approval (big deal in 70’s) and outstanding art. This is the book I look forward to the most.
Jim: I’ll trust your memory on this as I’m not sure I remember this material being that good. Plus the writer line-up has some luminaries in it, but not guys noted for their edgy horror work.

Jim: I was harsh on Marvel, but as the number one publisher they need to work at giving back to the fans more as oppose to just constantly pushing up price points.
Lee: You were harsh on Marvel is an understatement. But it was all deserved so I’ll let it go. Maybe we should alternate who picks Marvel so the post is somewhat level?

Next month we are asking Greg to join in the fun and as Greg is more of a Marvel fan then Lee or I, we are hoping he can maybe add some balance to the post. Not that we really care about that stuff, but it is more fun with different viewpoints.