Monday, February 20, 2012

Marvel Preview for April

Greg: Well its summer crossover season AND there's an Avengers movie coming out. So I hope you like the Avengers, Lee, because you're about to get more than your daily recommended dose of them.
Lee: And I cannot tell you how excited I am about it.  Wheeee.  See?  That's me being excited.

AvX: Vs #1 (Of 6)
Cover By Adam Kubert
Variant Cover By Stuart Immonen
Amazing Spider-Man 50Th Anniversary Variant By Tba
• The Premier Tie-In To Avengers Vs. X-Men!
• All-Out Action Featuring Cover To Cover Battles, Each Issue Expanding On Fights From The Main Avx Book In Ways You Can’t Imagine!
• This Issue: Iron Man Vs. Magneto And Thing Vs. Namor!
32 Pgs./ $3.99
AVENGERS Vs. X-MEN #1 (Of 12)
Brian Michael Bendis (W) • John Romita Jr. (A)
Cover By Jim Cheung
Variant Covers By Ryan Stegman & John Romita Jr.
Blank Variant Also Available
• It’s No Longer Coming—It’s Here!
• Does The Return Of The Phoenix To Earth Signal The Rebirth Of The Mutant Species? That’s What The X-Men Believe!
• Unfortunately, The Avengers Are Convinced That Its Coming Will Mean The End Of All Life On Earth!
• The Stage Is Set For The Ultimate Marvel Showdown In This Oversized First Issue!
40 Pgs./ $3.99
Greg: Nerds loooove watching heroes fight each other. This was cool before it happened, y'know, ALL the time. There are plenty of logical reasons for these groups to fight, so it shouldn't be as pained as the conflict behind Civil War, but the format of this worries me. Rotating creative teams are very tricky, even when there's stellar talent involved. And a WHOLE YEAR is a long time to keep this shizz up. Meanwhile AvX, title devoted entirely to fights, might be the dumbest thing I've ever seen. But hey, if they really let their artists go crazy maybe we'll get some pretty pictures.
Lee: Marvel has never had any trouble with pretty pictures so I agree this will be fun to look at.  But, the last big event, Fear Itself, really was a mess.  It was fun watching it go wildly off the tracks but that was about it.  I am concerned that this will be more of the same.  It has potential to be good, but I'm not convinced.




DARKHAWK CLASSIS Vol. 1 Tpb
Written By Danny Fingeroth
Penciled, Cover By Mike Manley
Begin The Saga Of The Darkhawk! Long Before War Of Kings, Teenager Chris Powell Began His Journey As A Dark Force For Justice. Thrill To The Earliest Adventures Of One Of Marvel’s Hottest Heroes For The ’90S As The Newborn Darkhawk Unravels The Mystery Of His Armored Avenging Alter Ego, And Encounters Some Of The Marvel Universe’s Finest Heroes And Villains Along The Way. From Alliances With Spider-Man, Captain America And Daredevil To All-Out Brawls With The Hobgoblin, Portal And The U-Foes, Darkhawk Soars To Unparalleled Heights! Collecting Darkhawk #1-9. 216 Pgs./ $24.99
Greg: Every couple years, Marvel tries to redo the Spider-Man formula of young, fun guy with a burden of responsibility. Darkhawk was the 90's attempt at this and you could not get more 90's if you tried.
Lee: Wow, that is the nicest Greg slam I have heard in a long time. It’s like a back handed compliment. Since the 90’s was your entry point I figured you would be all over this. It’s fine stuff. Nothing ground breaking but certainly plenty of good guys punching bad guys fun.

AGE OF APOCALYPSE #2
David Lapham (W) – Roberto De La Torre
Cover By Humberto Ramos
AVENGERS ART APP RECIATION VARIANT BY Christian Nauck
• AOA Cyclops is back… from the dead?!?!
• One of the X-Terminated is captured and faces death. Can the rest save her?
• Jean begins her training to take down Weapon X
32 Pgs./ $2.99
Greg: I've always wondered why Marvel never tried a straight up Age of Apocalypse ongoing, and fifteen years later, here we are. Using some of the most repugnant villains of the regular universe as a cast of still pretty repugnant alternate reality protagonists is certainly a way to distinguish this book from the regular X-Men line, but I'm not entirely sure if that's something I want to read.
Lee: It is surprising that it has taken so long for an AoA series.  But, I really do have such fond memories of the first series that I have to check out the first issue at least.  And, I've always been a sucker for alternate universe stories because... well it's something new. 

SECRET AVENGERS #25
Rick Remender (W) • Gabriel Hardman (A)
Cover By Arthur Adams
• The Final Ascension Of The Adaptoids, Deathlok Legion, Sentinaughts, Ultravisions, And Machine People!
• Can The Secret Avengers Stop These Descendants From Carrying Out Contagious Robotic Evolution?
• A Dead Friend Returns! An Avenger Mortally Injured! A Spy In Their Midst! The Lighthouse Compromised! • A New Race Is Born! 32 Pgs./ $3.99
Greg:  Give Remender credit, he is not lacking in ambition. That is some crazy stuff for a first arc. If its anything like X-Force, we're in for a treat.
Lee: Remender has never been short of ridiculous over the top ideas.  The only complaint is that you have to stop reading him after 6-8 issues because he can never stick the ending.  It always seems to fall apart.  But getting there is great fun.



DAREDEVIL #11
Mark Waid (W) • Marco Checchetto (A)
Cover By Marcos Martin  Variant Cover By Adi Granov
Avengers Art Appreciation Variant By Steffi Schütze
• “The Omega Effect” Concludes!
• Daredevil And Spider-Man Join Frank Castle In A Blitzkrieg Takedown Of New York Crime-- But Don’t Take It For Granted That These Heroes Are All Working Together. 32 Pgs./ $2.99
Greg: The Comics industry is a pretty cyclical place. Crossovers of any kind vanish for years, now they're everywhere. This is part of a three issue crossover with Punisher and Spider Man, and while that may seem like a bad idea, the creators are all top notch and the characters are all very NYC identified characters, so this not only makes sense, but it may be pretty good. Besides, its Waid on Daredevil, of course its worth your time.
Lee: I just finished reading the first DD trade and loved it.  Waid is doing great things.  I am surprised that everyone is raving about the art though.  Don't get me wrong it's very good too, but it's very Euro.  The stylings weren't all that new to me.

THE SECRET SERVICE #1
Mark Millar (W) Dave Gibbons (A)
Variant Cover By Bryan Hitch
From The Writer Of Kick-Ass And The Artist Of Watchmen Comes A Collaboration Decades In The Making. Says Millar:
“Secret Service Is The Ramifications Of [How] America Is Struggling On The World Stage, Funding Is Being Seriously Undercut To Balance The Books And Some People Are Trying Their Best To Take Advantage Of The Fragile Global Situation. The Hero And Sidekick Guys Who Lead The Book Are, I Think, The Best Characters I’ve Written.” 32 Pgs./ $2.99
Greg: Millar's creator owned stuff has been glib movie pitches for a while now. However, Superior, while not without its problems, was thankfully free of the cynicism and laziness that has often characterized Millar's work. Hopefully he gives us something worthy of Dave Gibbons' sure to be spectacular art.
Lee: Hey, Millar is on a roll.  He's one for one in producing material that isn't shocking just for the sake of shock.  I'm hoping for more of the same with this.


Greg: Marvel needs to do something more in their books next month. I suggest more Avengers.
Lee: I don't think Marvel needs more Avengers... they need another event going on.  In a title like Captain America so we can have lots of Cap and Avengers on the stands at the same time.

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