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Soliciting Multiveristy: Marvel’s Top 10 in January 2016

By | October 29th, 2015
Posted in Columns | % Comments

It’s a new year, it’s some new comics, it’s a new column and Soliciting Multiversity is feeling good. Let’s take a look at Multiversity Comics’s ten most interesting picks from Marvel’s solicitations and try to forget that 2006 was ten years ago. Check out our picks below and let us know what stuck out to you in the comments.

If you want to follow along here’s Marvel’s January 2016 solicitations courtesy of CBR.

10. New Old Mutants

Marvel’s True Believers lines have moved on from giving spotlights to female-centric comics to the Best of Deadpool. Cool. That’s fair. The series has a few too many Daniel Way stories to actually be Deadpool’s Best Of, but this feels like the anthology’s most glaring entry. Not every superhero’s first appearance is their best (like that time when Wolverine debuted and was meant to be a literal wolverine) and this shines through with “New Mutants” Deadpool who won’t become Deadpool for a couple more years. Also, where the hell’s that Gail Simone issue where Deadpool just jerked off for an entire issue? That’s the real Best Of.

TRUE BELIEVERS: DEADPOOL #1
Reprinting NEW MUTANTS #98.
32 PGS./Rated T …$1.00

9. The First Avenger: Round 2

I honestly kind of love this. I was one of those kids who LOVED movies and were so upset that it was over that I would pore over every detail I could get in it, usually in the form of picture books that basically retold the movie, but less impressively. We couldn’t afford DVDs to rewatch everything and Netflix wasn’t a concept yet so I spent hours reading the Ice Age guide which was just some pictures of Ray Romano’s fursona. Anyway, Marvel’s doing something like that with Captain America: The First Avenger which is A) entirely too late and B) not the Marvel movie you should be retelling. I complained about “Captain America: White” stepping over Brubaker’s Cap run in terms of retelling his World War II days and the universe doesn’t need another comic that’s just a retread of everyone’s second least favorite Marvel movie. The “MCU Guidebooks” should just be blank pages with Wikipedia hyperlinks in them.

I would, however, gladly take a book entirely on designing a World War II superhero movie for my coffeetable. I would also gladly take a coffeetable.

GUIDEBOOK TO THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE – MARVEL’S CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER
Written by MIKE O’SULLIVAN
& THE OHOTMU TEAM
Cover by MIKE DEL MUNDO

Captain America takes center stage as the MCU Guidebooks’ comprehensive coverage of the fan-favorite Marvel Studios films and Marvel TV shows continues! Look back on the dark days of World War II as we declassify the secrets of Project Rebirth! Featuring fact sheets, movie-to-comic comparisons and production stills, this issue is packed with profiles of Steve “Captain America” Rogers himself; patriotic allies including Bucky Barnes, Peggy Carter, Dr. Abraham Erskine and the Howling Commandos; enemies of liberty including Hydra, Arnim Zola and the Red Skull; and updates on Howard Stark and Nick Fury! Plus: Cap’s mighty shield! The Tesseract!
Yggdrasil the World-Tree! And more! Relive the big-screen thrills of Marvel’s Captain America: The First Avenger right here, and continue building your indispensable library of Cinematic Universe reference books!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

8. Tricentennial Woman

“Secret Wars 2099” was a pretty good series that had a lot of neat concepts in it. Chief among them was Captain America 2099: an office worker for Alchemax who was also hypnotized to unknowingly act as their Captain America. 2099 has always been a nice area for out there concepts (I will defend Punisher 2099 to the grave) so it’s nice to see that Peter David and Will Sliney seem to be cherry picking what did or didn’t work in their “Secret Wars” tie-in.

SPIDER-MAN 2099 #5
PETER DAVID (W) • WILL SLINEY (A)
Cover by FRANCESCO MATTINA

• Spider-Man 2099 and Captain America 2099 race through the streets of present-day New York City looking for a dangerous futuristic fugitive!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99

Continued below

7. World’s Goodest

Joe Kelly on Deadpool? With Ed McGuinness? Cool, I don’t even need to try to shill for this.

But really, Spider-Man and Deadpool’s passive aggressive relationship is one of my favorite dynamics in Marvel. Spider-Man’s that funny kid who started his college’s improv troupe and is known for being a bit of a clown, but still gets good grades and takes things seriously. Deadpool came to the improv troupe’s open jam completely wasted, did a Borat impression, and still insists that he and Peter are equally funny guys which really gets to Spider-Man. Ah man. Team these two up 4 lyfe.

SPIDER-MAN/DEADPOOL #1
JOE KELLY (w) • ED MCGUINNESS (a/C)
Hip-hop Variant Cover by DAVE JOHNSON
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
DEADPOOL VARIANT COVER BY TBA
VARIANT COVER BY MIKE DEL MUNDO
ACTION FIGURE PHOTO VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE

BECAUSE YOU DEMANDED IT!
The Webbed Wonder and the Merc with a Mouth are teaming up for their first ongoing series EVER! It’s action, adventure and just a smattering of (b) romance in this episodic epic featuring the WORLD’S GREATEST SUPER HERO and the star of the WORLD’S GREATEST COMICS MAGAZINE. Talk about a REAL dynamic duo!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

6. Crazed Old Man Theatre Part 1

In terms of stuff Marvel should be doing with its Star Wars comics, having Jason Aaron write the story of why Crazy Old Ben Kenobi wasn’t allowed anywhere near Luke is three of the top five things. You know how the prequels decided to answer burning questions like “What did Darth Vader look like with a rattail?” and “Is there such a thing as racist aliens?” This is the type of gaps in the Star Wars story they should have been filling.

STAR WARS #15
JASON AARON (W) • MIKE MAYHEW (A/C)
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
SKETCH VARIANT COVER BY MIKE MAYHEW
FROM THE JOURNALS OF OBI-WAN KENOBI

• Another tale of Obi-Wan’s exile on Tatooine!
• Owen Lars took Luke in…but he refused to let Ben be part of his life. Why?
• What trouble could have been stirred up by Ben protecting Luke?
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
Star Wars © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Text and illustrations for Star Wars are © 2015 Lucasfilm Ltd.

5. Crazed Old Man Theatre Part 2

On the other side of me fantasy booking what Marvel should do with their expansive roster of crazy old white dudes, having Old Man Logan pop into the 616 as a decrepit Kyle Reese is all kinds of great. “Old Man Logan” felt a bit too much like murder porn in its first iteration and the Battleworld series, uh, happened. Looking at the solicits recap of what happened under Millar’s pen is kind of a shocking reminder of how weird the whole character has been, but I feel like Lemire and Sorrentino will do a great job of bringing him into the current Marvel universe.

Also, this is the closest thing to an X-Men comic I’m covering this month because I have no clue what’s going on with the X-Men right now. There’s a bunch of titles and they all look functionally the same. I need to actually read them before they appear to me as anything else than a strange blob of identical comics.

OLD MAN LOGAN #1
JEFF LEMIRE (w) • ANDREA SORRENTINO (a/C)
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
HIP-HOP VARIANT COVER BY TIM BRADSTREET
VARIANT COVER BY MIKE DEODATO
DEADPOOL VARIANT COVER BY TBA

Fifty years from now, Logan — the man who no longer calls himself Wolverine — will have endured many atrocities: The Marvel Universe’s villains will have banded together and rid the world of its heroes. Logan’s closest friend, Hawkeye, will have been murdered in cold blood right before his eyes. And driven mad by the same radiation that gave him his superhuman strength, Bruce Banner will have fathered a family of hillbilly Hulks…that eventually went on to slaughter Logan’s wife and two children. But now, in the present, Old Man Logan wakes up to discover himself in a world before these atrocities, before the Wasteland. And he’s going to seize this opportunity and change history to ensure that his future never comes to pass…
40 PGS./Parental Advisory …$4.99

Continued below

4. World’s Gooderest

I never understood why Rocket Raccoon and Groot got their own comics that weren’t explicitly tied to each other. Like Deadpool and Spider-Man, they have such a strong relationship and it’s that dynamic the two have which made them household names when Guardians of the Galaxy came out last year. Seeing them together again, together again committing crimes, just feels right.

ROCKET RACCOON & GROOT #1
SKOTTIE YOUNG (w) • FILIPE ANDRADE (a)
Cover by SKOTTIE YOUNG
VARIANT COVER BY SUPERLOG
HIP-HOP VARIANT COVER BY KHARY RANDOLPH
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
DEADPOOL VARIANT COVER BY TBA
COSPLAY VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE

ROCKET RACCOON BREAKS BAD!
There’s a new criminal mastermind in the galaxy, and it’s…ROCKET RACCOON?! How did this happen? SERIOUSLY, HOW DID THIS HAPPEN, YOU GUYS??? Groot knows, but he’s not talking! Well, he is talking, but all he’s saying is…oh, you know. Diabolical danger, madcap mysteries and astonishing adventure abound as SKOTTIE YOUNG and FILIPE ANDRADE return to tell tall tail tales of Rocket Raccoon, now with the adorable, arboreal Groot along for the ride! If you love adventure, animals, outer space and just about anything in between, this is the book for you!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99

3. Contest: Champions Among Us

I was pretty quick to write off “Contest of Champions” due to it being related to a video game, a mobile one at that. A lot of comic book video games never feel right to me, especially if their big goal is trying to justify why a game’s writers made some horrible choices (Hey Injustice!) But what I’ve seen of “Contest of Champions” has been pretty damn stellar. A French hero powered by the blood of everyone who died in the French Revolution? Venom-Hulk? A resurrected Stick? I’m pretty partial to any comics that feature Al Ewing, Paco Medina, and the Maestro already, so this is all just icing on the sweet sweet cake.

CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS #4
AL EWING (W) • PACO MEDINA (A)
Cover by VICTOR IBAÑEZ
CONNECTING VARIANT COVER D BY RON LIM
CLASSIC ARTIST VARIANT BY TBA
VARIANT COVER BY PASQUAL FERRY
KABAM CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS GAME VARIANT
DEADPOOL VARIANT COVER BY BOBBY RUBIO
THE MAN WHO TRAINED DAREDEVIL VS. THE WOMAN WHO LOVED DAREDEVIL!

• Can the blind martial arts master known as Stick beat a Bullseye who’s also his greatest student?
• Venom-Hulk vs Guillotines… plural?
• Plus! White Fox gets close to the truth as the enemy Summoner makes his move!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99

2. Ultimate Ultimates

And another Al Ewing joint. A lot of people pointed out that I was a darn fool for not having “Ultimates” on my radar and, looking at this solicitaiton, they’re probably right. Marvel actually using the fallout of “Secret Wars” (before it even ends) is a major story for the company, and it’s something that should be explored by Blue Marvel, Captain America & Marvel, and Black Panther, among others.

This is kind of what I was talking about with the X-Men titles earlier. For the Ultimates and Avengers, I can kind of tell what their deal is. “Uncanny Avengers” is about Inhuman relations, “New Avengers” is about the AIM team and “Ultimates” is about fixing the Multivese. Easy simple hooks. I think all the X-Men books have going right now is “X-Men But Some Of Us Are Evil” and “X-Men With Storm.” Not that I’m not going to buy the last one.

ULTIMATES #3
AL EWING (W) • KENNETH ROCAFORT (A/C)
Cover by KENNETH ROCAFORT
Variant Cover by CHRIS SPROUSE
BLACK PANTHER 50th ANNIVERSARY VARIANT BY TIM SALE

• Sometimes you can’t fix something without taking a look at the whole thing at once.
• Spacetime is broken. If The Ultimates want to fix it, they need to go… OUTSIDE.
• But who — or WHAT — is out there waiting for them?
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99

Continued below

1. Captain Marveling At This Art

Kris Anka’s doing the interiors for a Captain Marvel movie. This is not a drill.

Now is a super improtant time for the Carol Danvers as we find out whether she can be as popular without Kelly Sue DeConnick writing her. Considering that Danvers has become a lynchpin for the Marvel Universe lately, probably. Considering that her new writers are executive producers on Agent Carter, Captain Marvel will continue being a strong character. Also Kris Anka is doing interiors. I know this comic is coming out in 2016, but Anka diong interiors on “Captain Marvel” feels like Christmas. Kristmas.

CAPTAIN MARVEL #1
Michele Fazekas & Tara Butters (w) • KRIS ANKA (a/C)
Hip-hop Variant Cover by Marguerite Sauvage
ARTIST VARIANT BY TBA
DESIGN VARIANT BY KRIS ANKA
DEADPOOL VARIANT COVER BY TBA
COSPLAY VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
BLANK VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE

Face front, true believers! The Captain has made her return and oh, how mighty it is. It’s a bold new frontier for Carol Danvers as she soars to new heights in her greatest mission yet—leader of the all-new Alpha Flight space program. Yup, Alpha Flight. As earth’s first line of defense, Carol and her team aim to protect the planet from extraterrestrial threats. But can Carol be a soldier and a diplomat? Especially when an unknown enemy emerges that Carol can’t quite punch. The superstar team behind Marvel’s Agent Carter television series, Tara Butters and Michele Fazekas, make their comics debut alongside the awesomely-talented Kris Anka.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

And that’s it for this month’s Soliciting Multiversity. Let us know what you think about Marvel’s new year in the comments and tell me what I missed.


//TAGS | Soliciting Multiversity

James Johnston

James Johnston is a grizzled post-millenial. Follow him on Twitter to challenge him to a fight.

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