Marvel Preview Review for October Part 2 of 3

CHAOS WAR #1 (of 5)
Written by Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente Penciled by Khoi Pham Backup Story Penciled by Reilly Brown
Cover & Sketch Variant by ED Mcguinness
Bigger than The Infinity Gauntlet! More cosmic than Annihilation! Since the end of Secret Invasion, the Chaos King has amassed his army of alien slave gods -- and the time to strike Earth is NOW! Only the greatest Marvel heroes can oppose him -- all led by the newly-returned god of heroes ... HERCULES! But are even his incredible new powers enough to stand against the greatest threat the Marvel Universe has ever seen – a mad god who seeks to destroy Reality itself? PLUS: While thought dead, Hercules was trapped in a dangerous world that threatened his very sanity. Find out the secret of his exile in a special extra story penciled by PRINCE OF POWER’s Reilly Brown! 40 PGS./ $3.99
Jim: I fell the Amadeus Cho book and maybe I will jump back in, but the charm of this book has fallen apart for me. I do enjoy how Marvel tries to continue series via a series of mini-series. They did it with Agents of Atlas and have been doing it with Hercules and Amadeus Cho, not sure if it is a good idea or not.
Greg: Hercules has been one of the most consistently awesome books Marvel has published over the last couple years and Reilly Brown has been one of the best artists they have used. Sold.
Lee: Actually, one limited series after another is probably the best thing for a book like Herc. It can’t survive as a monthly so this allows it to maintain a standard of quality and limit the fluff, fill in issues.

SHADOWLAND #4 (of 5)
Written by Andy Diggle Penciled by Billy Tan
Cover by John Cassaday Variant Cover by Billy Tan
The final battle for the soul of New York erupts in Hell's Kitchen, and Daredevil is on the front lines…Hell, he IS the front line! Backed by the full power of the Hand, Daredevil is now more than a match for New York's strongest heroes. With a new right-hand man, Matt Murdock will finally show those who stand against him what it truly means to be a Man Without Fear! 32 PGS./$3.99
Jim: They have already shown Matt is possessed by a demon or something so we know it is not the real Daredevil. I’m very doubtful I can hang onto the end of this series.
Greg: Thus far, strong concept with a weak execution. Hopefully it will pick up. I am probably unreasonably excited by the prospect of Moon Knight, Ghost Rider, Misty Knight, and Iron Fist mixing it up. And that is a sentence that has never been written before.
Lee: WAHOO! I saved myself tons of money by not getting this series. Opinions seem to differ between stupid idea or just bad execution. That’s not gonna help the tpb sales.

HULK #26
Written by Jeff Parker Penciled by Gabriel Hardman
Cover by Ed Mcguinness Vampire Variant by Salva Espi
It’s god versus Hulk as MODOK’s apocalyptic Scorched Earth protocol continues, because one doomsday is never enough! To save the world, Red Hulk needs the mightiest Avenger, and THOR has just the right tool for the job – the matchless Mjolnir! But when the God of Thunder’s hammer drops, how much of Thor’s wrath will fall on Red Hulk himself? 40 PGS./ $3.99
Jim: I’m a big Jeff Parker fan and Hardman has been doing some terrific art and now I’m ticked off because it looks like I will be reading a book about Rulk.
Greg: The quality of this book is about to go way up.
Lee: The quality of the book already was up! This is as close to silverage superheroes as there has been on the stands for a long time. I’ve loved all the pointless hitting and smashing. Low thought, high entertainment. This book is the WWE of Marvel U.

KLAWS OF THE PANTHER #1 & 2 (of 4)
Written by Jonathan Maberry Pencilled by Gianluca Gugliotta
Cover by Mike Del Mundo Variant Cover by Stephanie Hans
Klaw, Master of Sound, is no more dead than he is human. The killer composed of living sound is back with a new and deadly plan that will spill blood from the Savage Land to the streets of New York. Shuri, the new Black Panther, has already tried (and failed) to stop this monster –a defeat that owed as much to her own reckless rage than it does to Klaw’s power. So, Shuri turns to the person who knows more about battling inner rage than anyone. If you think you know the Black Panther –you don’t. So don’t miss this installment of NY Times bestseller Jonathan Maberry’s exciting new series. 32 PGS.(each)/ $3.99 (each)
Lee: If this book is about the Black Panther than why are Wolverine and Spiderman on the cover? They aren’t even mentioned in the hype. I hate to state the obvious but it’s getting ridiculous that SM and Wolvie are everywhere now. I think only Deadpool is in more places at once.
Greg: Eh, how else can you sell Black Panther? If Christopher Priest's excellent run didn't do it, excessive guest stars will have to. Still, pass.
Jim: I want ot know is everyone a NY Times bestseller? I mean that list sounds pretty damn easy to get onto lately. I'm guessing they have tons of categories and the list is 1,000 books long.

THOR THE MIGHTY AVENGER #5
Written by Roger Langridge Pencils & Cover by Chris Samnee
Thor tests his might against the strange and powerful (and slightly blue) Sub-Mariner. The God of Thunder vs. King of the Seven Seas, and YOU’VE got the front-row seat! 32 PGS./ $2.99
Jim: This series has been such a gem of a book with only two issues so far as I type this. A great re-imagining of Thor.
Greg: Fun stuff and I am utterly shocked at how well Samnee has done with a book about Thor. I didn’t think this kind of mythic stuff would be in his wheelhouse, but he has done an amazing job.
Lee: I missed it at first so I’ll have to get it in trade but everyone seems to love it.

LOKI #1 (of 4)
Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa Art & Cover by Sebastian Fiumara
The true origin of Thor's archenemy and Marvel's most unpredictable villain! He is the lie-smith; he is the shape-changer; he is the fire that burns. The God of Mischief and Trickery, Loki. Meet the mirthful, beloved young man that made all the Asgardians laugh...until the first time he killed. Discover the gnarled roots of his twisted, unrelenting hatred of the Asgardians. And learn the chilling truth of why he'll never be stopped… 40 PGS./ $3.99
Jim: Marvel really knows how to make sure they have material on the book shelves for when the movie hits.
Greg: At least they’re smart enough to have it all collected in time for the movie now. Remember when the X-Men movie came out and every X-mini series they put out was on like issue 1 the day the movie was released?
Lee: I know it’s just being done to support the movie and I know it’s for everyone BUT the ordinary fan but I still don’t like it. It’s just flooding an already saturated market with more floppies. Why not just release it as a tpb same day as the movie opens and not screw the fanboys along the way.
Jim: I just don't buy all of the stuff and if I like the character pick one series to follow, like Thor The Mighty Avenger.

TOMB OF TERROR #1
Written by Joe R. Lansdale, Rob Williams, Joe Pruett & Paul Hornschemeier
Penciled by Mark Texiera, Jordan Raskin, Pablo Peppino & More Cover by Travel Foreman
Marvel’s most terrifying monsters star in four tales of harrowing horror! Jack Russell, the Werewolf by Night stalks a killer werewolf in the mountains while searching for a cure that will end his curse. The mal-formed Man-Thing, temporarily in possession of his mind, attempts to save a man from certain death at the hands of racist hunters. And Son of Satan battles a possessed child killer along with the murderous voices in his head. All this and much more in this all-new, all-black-and-white one-shot in the spirit of the Mighty Marvel Magazines of yore, but ALL-NOW in style! 32 PGS./Black & White/One-Shot/ $3.99
Jim: Why is this being published? It is a one shot with 4 eight pages stories in black and white. Is it a test market thing or was this a digital comic?
Greg: They’ve been publishing a lot of these black and white books over the past year. And most of them have been pretty good in a grindhouse kinda way. This is on the slight side though. Maybe there’s a collection of these books they’re trying to fill out?
Lee: And I think that you’ve hit on the problem of this book! I would be interested but I’m primarily trades these days. Jim isn’t interested because it’s a one shot, which means there’s a very narrow window of people getting this. But, if they did collect them all I would probably get it.

STEVE ROGERS: SUPER-SOLDIER #4 (of 4)
Written by Ed Brubaker
Penciled by Dale Eaglesham Cover by Carlos Pacheco
It's the conclusion of the hardest-hitting Steve Rogers story in years!With the Super Soldier Serum about to be sold on the black market, Steve Rogers must risk all to stop every terrorist nation on earth from creating armies of their own supermen.32 PGS./ $3.99
Lee: Looking closely at the cover, what do I see? Ahh, the ever popular Captain America wielding a flame thrower! WHAT THE F! Seriously, Cap with a flame thrower? If that doesn’t miss the core concept of Captain America then I’m not sure what does. Two people in the comic book universe never use guns, Captain America and Batman. How hard is that concept?
Greg: I'm a pretty big Cap fan and I get pretty bothered by tinkering with small, but vital parts of a character's deal (hello Batman-should-never-know-who-killed-his-parents) but this doesn't bother me. During the last couple years, they've shown Cap using guns pretty consistently during WWII. As long as its during the war, I don't really mind.
Jim: They showed Bucky using guns, but not Cap (I could be wrong) and I think it is the same writing who has been doing it. I dropped this series after the first issue, I'm tired of every Steve Rogers story being about his origin in some fashion.

Yes there is more tomorrow...............