Heroes Return 1 featured Columns 

Soliciting Multiversity: Marvel’s Top 10 for June 2021

By | March 31st, 2021
Posted in Columns | % Comments

This June, we have a boon of comics coming soon. Don’t swoon, but we’re over the moon, and may read them all by noon. I’m not entirely sure where I’m going with this, but the point is, there’s a lot to look forward to. We get the conclusion to “Heroes Reborn,” the start of the Hellfire Gala, Infinite Destinies, the War of the Bounty Hunters, and so much more I couldn’t even include them all in this list. So let’s see what did make the cut for June 2021.

10. The Hunt is On

The “Star Wars” comics have been doing an excellent job not only bridging the gaps between the movies, but also expanding on the universe in an organic and connected way. However, their crossovers have been limited – until now. We’ve got a crossover featuring all the “Star Wars” ongoings, with bounty hunters from across the galaxy getting in on the action, and I’m here for it.

Star Wars: War Of The Bounty Hunters #1
Written by Charles Soule
Illustrated by Steve McNiven
Cover by Steve McNiven
Variant covers by Leinil Francis Yu, Pepe Larraz, Sara Pichelli, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Babs Tarr, John Tyler Christopher, and John Cassaday

• AT WAR FOR THE GREATEST PRIZE OF ALL: HAN SOLO!
• THE HUNT BEGINS!
• Nobody. Steals. From BOBA FETT! The notorious bounty hunter will not stop until he gets what’s rightfully his. For the thief, no corner of the galaxy is safe. Good thing for them that the REBEL ALLIANCE, THE EMPIRE and every bounty hunter in the galaxy is standing in Boba’s way.
• With a last-page reveal that will blow this Death Star–sized story wide open, Issue #1 is just the beginning. The biggest crossover in STAR WARS history will continue raging through the pages of the WAR OF THE BOUNTY HUNTERS event miniseries and tie-in to STAR WARS, DOCTOR APHRA, DARTH VADER and BOUNTY HUNTERS through October.
• Only one hunter will be left standing, and the STAR WARS galaxy will never be the same!
• 40 PGS./Rated T …$4.99
• Star Wars © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Text and illustrations for Star Wars are © 2021 Lucasfilm Ltd.

9. Another World, Another Gwen

Remember when every comic was getting a Gwen Stacy cover? Well, that’s still the case in the “Heroes Reborn” world. In this case, Gwen still becomes a hero, but with no spider to bite her, she follows in Nighthawk’s path instead. These looks at how existing characters become heroes in the “Heroes Reborn” reality are interesting ideas, but it seems that no matter where Gwen goes, there will always be a Jackal causing her pain.

Heroes Reborn: Night-Gwen #1
Written by Vita Ayala
Illustrated by Farid Karami
Cover by David Nakayama
Variant covers by Javier Garrón and Takeshi Miyazawa

• INTRODUCING: NIGHTBIRD!
• By day, Dr. Gwendolyn Stacy is Ravencroft Asylum’s leading psychiatrist. But by night, she dons the guise of the vigilante known as Nightbird! But how did this happen? Why did this happen? And what does Kyle Richmond, the Nighthawk, have to do with it? There may not be any time to find out, because Nightbird must hunt down a new killer called the Jackal!
• 40 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$4.99

8. Going Green (from Gamma)

I’ve mentioned how amazing “Immortal Hulk” is, right? This month, we get Hulk’s rematch with the Avengers, but for now we’re focusing on a “Gamma Flight” spinoff. This is a team of characters that have been playing big roles in “Immortal Hulk,” and with their own spinoff, we can only wonder what kind of amazing horrors they’ll face from the minds of Al Ewing and Crystal Frasier.

Gamma Flight #1
Written by Al Ewing & Crystal Frasier
Illustrated by Lan Medina
Cover by Leinil Francis Yu
Variant covers by Carlos Pacheco, Joshua Cassara, Kaare Andrews, and Dustin Weaver

• SPINNING OUT OF IMMORTAL HULK, BRUCE BANNER’S
• GAMMA-POWERED ALLIES GO ON THE RUN!
• Gamma Flight had one job: Find and stop the Hulk. But when push came to smash, they sided with the Green Goliath—and the human world intends to make them regret it. Puck, Absorbing Man, Titania, Doc Sasquatch, Dr. Charlene McGowan and a horribly changed Rick Jones are fugitives from every known authority—but a team that full of gamma is bound to break before long. Al Ewing, Crystal Frasier and Lan Medina mastermind a whole new world of gamma!
• 32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Continued below

7. Some Sort of Savage Squad on a Suicide Mission

Some of the “Heroes Reborn” titles are clear references to DC titles, but then, so are all the members of the Squadron Supreme. So here’s our Marvel version of the Suicide Squad: the Squadron Savage. We get a good mix of anti-heroes and villains, so I’m curious to see if this one-shot will have a high body count, as well as what level of “reality” is at stake.

Heroes Reborn: Squadron Savage #1
Written by Ethan Sacks
Illustrated by Luca Pizzari
Cover by Stephen Segocia
Variant cover by David Blatt

• ELEKTRA LEADS A TEAM OF THE WORLD’S DEADLIEST HEROES AND VILLAINS – WITH ALL OF REALITY HANGING IN THE BALANCE!
• There are some threats that require a more savage approach than the Squadron Supreme of America can offer. For those missions, the Department of Defense has put together a team consisting of Elektra, the Punisher, Crossbones, Cloak and the enigmatic Murder Hornet. They must fight their way through a team of super-powered terrorists known as the Redeemers—if they don’t kill one another first! Prepare for twists, turns, double crosses and action aplenty!
• 40 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$4.99

6. Another Infinite

No sooner does “Heroes Reborn” end than “Infinite Destinies” begins. That’s right, the Infinity Stones aren’t done with us yet – they’ve flown off and bonded with random people, which brings us to now, with Iron Man. Not only that, the “Iron Man” annual issue is tying in to “Miles Morales: Spider-Man” with the Assessor and Quantum, so there’s plenty of new stories being seeded here. Let’s see what’s next for the Marvel universe.

Iron Man Annual #1
Written by Jed MacKay
Illustrated by Ibraim Roberson
Cover by Nick Bradshaw
Variant covers by Travis Charest, Ron Lim, Rob Liefeld, and Joe Bennett

• “INFINITE DESTINIES” STARTS HERE!
• When Iron Man learns about the strange people who kidnapped and tortured Miles Morales, he HAS to look into it. What he finds out about the Assessor and especially Quantum will shock him and you! Don’t miss this in-depth look at some of the coolest new villains and the groundwork for major future Marvel stories!
• ALSO IN THIS ISSUE: Part 1 (of 8) of “Infinite Fury”! Nick Fury learns of the new incarnation of the Infinity Stones and sets off to find the stone-bearers. His quest will take him all over the Marvel Universe and pit him against some very powerful people who will terrify both Fury and YOU!
• 40 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$4.99

5. A Captain on Every Corner

A hero needs to inspire. Simply beating up bad guys is all well and good, but the best heroes make the people around them strive to be better. Captain America is one of those heroes, at least when he’s written right, and this new mini-series intends to show exactly how. It’s time for a road trip where we get to meet a number of new characters inspired by Captain America, or, as news websites are reporting it “Meet the first gay Captain America.” Still, I’m all for representation, so I look forward to seeing what “The United States of Captain America” has in store.

The United States of Captain America #1
Written by Christopher Cantwell & Josh Trujillo
Illustrated by Dale Eaglesham & Jan Bazaldua
Cover by Alex Ross
Variant covers by Nick Robles, Carmen Carnero, Jan Bazaldua, and Todd Nauck

• The shield has been stolen! No one understands the value of the shield like those who’ve wielded it, so Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson set out on a road trip across America to chase down the thief.
• But instead, they find the Captains, everyday people from all walks of life who’ve taken up the mantle of Captain America to defend their communities. And for some reason, the shield thief wants them all dead. Can Sam and Steve get to them first?
• Christopher Cantwell and Dale Eaglesham lead a can’t-miss miniseries to celebrate Captain America’s 80th Anniversary, joined by a rotating series of creative teams to tell the stories of each new Captain—starting with Aaron Fischer, the Captain America of the railways, brought to life by Josh Trujillo and Jan Bazaldua!
• 40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

Continued below

4. Welcome to the Hellfire Gala

The Hellfire Gala begins, and if you’ve been seeing any of the character designs for it, it looks like it’s going to be wild. High fashion for the high powered heroes of Krakoa, and a 48-page comic to show us all around it. The solicit is light on the details, aside from being drawn by Pepe Larraz (which is a good thing, of course), but with Gerry Duggan writing as well, it has a very good chance of living up to its claim of being “the most important issue of the month.” Time will tell.

Planet-Size X-Men #1
Written by Gerry Duggan
Illustrated by Pepe Larraz
Cover by Pepe Larraz
Variant covers by Olivier Coipel, Russell Dauterman, and Larry Houston

• THEY CAME TO SLAY!
• The HELLFIRE GALA rages on, but bigger things are afoot a world away. Make no mistake – this is an X-Men book drawn by superstar artist Pepe Larraz. It is absolutely the most important issue of the month.
• 48 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$4.99

3. New Team, Who Dis?

Speaking of the X-Men, the Hellfire Gala is also time to debut the first official X-Men team of Krakoa! Marvel ran a poll to see who we, the readers, want to join the team, and now we can see for ourselves. Who will be the next members, and perhaps more importantly, what bold new looks will they bring to the Hellfire Gala? Whatever Jonathan Hickman has planned, it will be exciting to see.

X-Men #21
Written by Jonathan Hickman
Illustrated by Russell Dauterman, Nick Dragotta, Sara Pichelli, and Lucas Werneck
Cover by Leinil Francis Yu
Variant covers by Russell Dauterman, Lucas Werneck, Phil Jimenez, and Ema Lupacchino

• THE HEROES OF KRAKOA DEBUT!
• It’s a changing if the guard as the first X-Men team of Krakoa debuts! One era ends as a new one begins, and the handoff happens here.
• 32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

2. Be Proud

“Marvel’s Voices” has continued to highlight marginalized characters and creators. Now it’s time to focus on the LGBT+ heroes of the Marvel universe. Representation is important, and Marvel has some great LGBT+ characters who have been getting some rightly-deserved spotlight, now it’s time to give them a proper issue. There are several amazing writers and artists ready to create this issue, and I look forward to seeing what all of them have in store.

Marvel’s Voices: Pride #1
Written by Kieron Gillen, Allan Heinberg, Anthony Oliveira, Steve Orlando, Tini Howard, Leah Williams, Mariko Tamaki, Terry Blas, Crystal Frasier, Vita Ayala, J.J. Kirby, Luciano Vecchio, and more
Illustrated by Javier Garrón, Jim Cheung, Kris Anka, Jen Hickman, Paulina Ganucheau, Jethro Morales, Britney Williams, J.J. Kirby, Luciano Vecchio, Jan Bazaldua, and more
Cover by Luciano Vecchio
Variant covers by Paulina Ganucheau, Kris Anka, Russell Dauterman, Jeffrey Veregge, Ernanda Souza, Phil Jimenez, Luciano Vecchio, and Olivier Coipel

• MARVEL CELEBRATES LGBTQ+ CHARACTERS & CREATORS WITH A RAINBOW-POWERED SPECIAL!
• Marvel Comics is proud to present its first ever queer-centered anthology! Ring in Pride Month with an amazing assembly of writers and artists from all walks of life. Wiccan and Hulkling! Iceman! Mystique and Destiny! Karma! Akihiro! Nico Minoru and Karolina Dean! Celebrate these and so many more legendary characters from across the Marvel archive! New and fan-favorite creators tell their Pride stories – stories of inspiration and empowerment, stories that illustrate “the world outside your window” in full color. Plus, some of Marvel’s biggest LGBTQ+ moments get a special reprinting. Don’t miss an extraordinary new chapter in Marvel history!
• 88 pages/ONE-SHOT/Rated T+…$9.99

1. They’re Back

“Heroes Reborn” is coming to an end, with the “Heroes Return” issue. We’ll have seen a world without Avengers, but now we can also see how the Avengers manage to hold their own against the Squadron Supreme when they’re the top heroes in town. Jason Aaron’s stories are always a ton of fun, so this issue is certain to be a showstopper.

Continued below

Heroes Return #1
Written by Jason Aaron
Illustrated by Ed McGuinness
Cover by Leinil Francis Yu
Variant covers by Mark Bagley, John Tyler Christopher, and Patrick Glason

• An epic, oversize slugfest between the Squadron Supreme and an otherworldly group of Avengers for the final fate of the whacked-out world of HEROES REBORN.
• 56 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$5.99

Check out the full solicitations over at CBR.com.


//TAGS | Soliciting Multiversity

Robbie Pleasant

EMAIL | ARTICLES



  • -->