Greg: Sigh. Here we go again.
FEAR ITSELF #1 (of 7)Written by Matt Fraction
Pencils & Cover by Stuart Immonen
Do You Fear...Tomorrow? In this time of global anxiety, of economic turmoil and mass hysteria, Sin, the new Red Skull, has made an awesome discovery...a shameful secret that will rock the foundations of the Marvel Universe! A revelation that will divide father and son, turn friend against friend, and herald the rise of Fear personified. He Is Returning...and the world has nothing to fear but Fear Itself. Matt Fraction and Stuart Immonen bring fans the biggest Marvel the biggest Marvel event since Civil War! 56 PGS./ $3.99
Greg : And we have Marvel’s crossover. This looks interesting. Of course all of Marvel’s crossovers look that way before they actually start and end up being terrible. But this isn’t written by Bendis ! So maybe it’ll be good. I mean probably not, but that is a super solid creative team. Here’s hoping.
Lee: Ok, I said it would be all snark but this book brings to light so many of the problems in today’s market. Marvel took a break from the event cycle with Age of Heroes and from what I read, everyone complained. It was dull, there was no movement, there was no “true change.” Yet, here comes another event and everyone groans again. Fandom, myself included, is one fickle bunch.
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #503Written by Matt Fraction
Art & Cover by Salvador Larroca
Fear has spread across the land and has made its way to Broxton, Oklahoma. As the Broxton residents prepare for a major disaster, Iron Man and Stark Resilient head into action. On the eve of this cataclysmic event, the Armored Avenger will face many dangers, but the greatest danger of all will be facing Fear Itself in this tie-in to the biggest Marvel event ever! 32 PGS./ $3.99
Lee. I know that most of the covers have nothing to do with the interior of the book anymore but this is getting out of control. I look at this cover and I wonder what Larocca was going for because all he achieved was ‘Jersey Shore’. I look and this cover and it says to me that Tony Stark walked into the room with his junk hanging out and Iron Man, disgusted, responds, “Dude, put some pants on already! We’re just roommates.” Tony responds, “What chu got a problem with the gloriness of the male body?” Yep, that’s Jersey Shore.
Greg: What? … What? I have no idea what you’re talking about! Can you please provide a flow chart for your thought process when you were writing this?
JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY #622Written by Kieron Gillen
Penciled by Doug Braithwaite Cover by Stephanie Hans
Fear Itself Tie-in! Prepare for Fear Itself when the acclaimed Thor series becomes Journey Into Mystery! Loki is back and the mystery surrounding his death is about to be revealed! What can the Trickster God be up to this time? How will this affect Thor? Acclaimed creators Kieron Gillen and Doug Braithwaite bring Thor’s dark, little brother back into the fray. It’s time for the Odinson and the Trickster to reunite! Also – get caught all caught up on THOR since he made his return to the Marvel Universe in J. Michael Straczynski’s epic run.
Greg : Kieron Gillen did a GREAT job with Loki on his short fill-in Thor run. Its cool to see him getting a shot to keep writing the character. Also glad to see Marvel giving indie writers more mainstream work. Now if they would just fund more Phonogram...
Lee : I don't know why but it seems like the indie creators just have more to say with the established characters. Maybe they haven't been beaten down by the corporate structure or editorial mandates yet. But, for whatever reason, a bunch of the second tier books are really good right now.
ULTIMATE COMICS AVENGERS VS. NEW ULTIMATES #3Written by Mark Millar
Penciled,Cover by Leinil Francis Yu
Death of Spider-Man Chapter Three32 PGS./ $3.99
Lee. I’m glad Greg can find good books because I am having trouble getting past the silly covers. Let’s disect this cover showing what appears to be a deadly assassin trying to kill Spiderman. If I were a world class assassin or marksman, which I am not, I think my choice of weapons would be a clear indicator of how good I was. For example, Bullseye uses a playing card. That’s just says, I don’t need anything more than a playing card to kill you. That’s deadly. In this case, we have unknown killer X, who is so good he uses… a howitzer? It’s like he is admitting, “I can’t hit the broad side of a barn, so I gots me a big gun big enough to blow up the entire barn. Screw just one side, I’za killin’ the entire barn.” Now that’s deadly.
Greg: Is this the first Ultimates cover to homage a classic cover? Is it an homage if its just using the same characters that were in the original?! Who would have thought this cover would be the one to BLOW MY MIND!?!
THE MIGHTY THOR #1Written by Matt Fraction
Pencils & Cover by Olivier Coipel
It’s a shining, golden, new age for the Thunder God and Matt Fraction and Olivier Coipel are back to lead the charge! Thor and Sif dive deep into the heart of the fractured World Tree to reclaim an artifact from beyond time and space, an artifact that attracts the attention of the Silver Surfer. And when a herald such as he arrives on Earth, the arrival of his master is certain to follow. Prepare for the return of the World Eater…prepare for the return of Galactus! Fans can’t miss an all new behind the scenes look at the highly anticipated major motion picture with a sneak peek at some of the art! 32 PGS./ $3.99
Lee. So the only thing that changed was the artist? Is that right? Yes it is right. Changing the artist is a perfect reason to restart a book at #1. The marketing decisions only get better and better. And let’s not remember the pledge to start new series at $2.99.
Greg: Whew. That actually made sense. This reminds me about the confusion surrounding the relaunch of Iron Man. But hey, that tuned out well in the end. Honestly, I’m guessing they want a #1 in time for the movie. I just wish Marvel would just pick classic numbering or new numbering. The jumping between can get really confusing. But at least we’re getting Journey Into Mystery…
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIGHTING AVENGER #1Written by Brian ClevingerPencils by Gurihiru
Covers by Gurihiru & Barry Kitson
Captain America’s Day One! He’s got the strength. He’s got the training. But has he got what it takes? A ragtag Special Forces unit takes Captain America on his first mission of World War II. Their orders? Don’t get him killed! But when the low-profile assignment draws the attention of Baron Strucker, the future Red Skull and half the Nazi army, it’ll be a crash course in super heroics for Marvel’s first Avenger! 48 PGS. /One-Shot/ $3.99
Greg : This got turned from an ongoing to a oneshot after the sales of Thor the Mighty Avenger. Word on the street this is of the same quality as that Thor book, which makes this all the more tragic. Clevinger does great work on Atomic Robo and Gurihiru has a super clean, enjoyable style. This looks to be worth a look. Pick it up, so you can be in at the ground floor when the internet starts complaining about it being cut short.
Lee: It is too bad. Atomic Robo is excellent and I bet this will be good. I might have to get this in single issue format because it will probably never get collected. Buy now everyone!
VENOM #2
Written by Rick Remender
Pencils & Cover by Tony Moore
A mysterious super villain has weaponized Antarctic. Vibranium to sell to dictators, madmen and terrorists across the globe. To stop this WMD, the US military unleashes the enhanced black ops agent Venom! First stop on his hunt: The Savage Land! But who’s hunting who? Venom soon discovers that death stalks these jungles; Kraven the Hunter stalks these jungles! Venom vs. Kraven the Hunter! 32 PGS./ $2.99
Lee. I like Tony Moore. I think he's a great artist and I'm glad to see him on Marvel books. So why did he make a cover that has our 'hero' pointing the gun in the wrong direction? It's like an editor called him up and said, "the cover still needs something... what is it? What is it? I know, and M16! Just add one in where ever."
Greg: If this does not involve dinosaurs getting eaten and shot, preferably at the same time, I will be sorely disappointed.
More pointless stupidity and complaining tomorrow… or maybe the day after that
Fear Itself looks like it is going to be really good. It's what the superhero is famed for, taking modern times and seeing how it would be with Superheroes. It should be really interesting to see the Marvel Universe in this kind of crisis.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to Olivier Coipel's art on The Mighty Thor. Plus, this book will have to fill a Thor the Mighty Avenger void in my life.
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