The watchful, completely objective and correct gaze of Soliciting Multiversity now falls upon Marvel’s crop of titles for May! Check out our picks below and let us know what stuck out to you in the comments.
10. No
no
CCIVIL WAR II #0
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (W) • OLIVIER COIPEL (A/C)
VARIANT COVER BY ESAD RIBIC
CONNECTING VARIANT COVER A BY KIM JUNG JI
CHARACTER VARIANT COVER BY PHIL NOTO
From the creative team that brought you House of M and Siege comes a blistering first chapter in Marvel’s new explosive event. Watch as the players are introduced and the table is set for a storyline that fans will be talking about for years.
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99
9. All-New Wasp
The Avengers are going to have a new Wasp and with all the alternate reality shenanigans Marvel has been up to, I will bet dollars to donuts that she’s going to be Hope Van Dyne from the Ant-Man movie. I wish we could go back to a time when we based theories and speculations based on stuff going on in the comic and not the movies but welcome to 2016.
ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT AVENGERS #9
MARK WAID (W) • MAHMUD ASRAR (A)
Cover by ALEX ROSS
VARIANT COVER BY ALEX ROSS
AGE OF APOCALYPSE VARIANT COVER BY Khoi Pham
New Story Starts NOW!
• Introducing the all-new Wasp! Who is she? What is she? And what does she intend to do about Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
8. The New Generation Era
Speaking of 2016, when did Marvel turn into early 2000’s DC because I’m kind of loving it? For those of you (like myself) who weren’t around for 90’s and 00’s DC, they had a huge focus on legacy characters which helped give their universe a real sense of history. It was awesome, until Geoff Johns decided he wanted to write about Barry Allen instead of Wally West and everyone got reset. Marvel’s doing something like this now with a new influx of legacy characters like Miles, Sam, and Kamala that’s really refreshing. It doesn’t seem to be totally permanent, as we’ll see later on with what’s going on with the Captain America persona. And Marvel’s not really replacing their flagship characters so much as presenting alternatives (Nova’s the exception here.) Still, if Marvel’s set on developing new characters, I’m all for it.
MS. MARVEL #7
G. WILLOW WILSON (W) • TAKESHI MIYAZAWA (A)
Cover By David Lopez
AGE OF APOCALYPSE VARIANT COVER BY TBA
The Next Generation!
• As civil war brews, Ms Marvel teams up with Spider-Man and Nova in their biggest challenge yet: a tristate academic competition.
• But math isn’t the only problem as tremors of war begin to surface.
• The best, brightest (and most adorable) heroes face off in the road to Marvel’s biggest battle.
• Move over Iron Man, the kids got this.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
7. He is the Night! He is a Hawk!
This solicit makes it sound like Nighthawk is going to spend a couple issues tracking himself down which sounds really entertaining. I’m sort of iffy about Nighthawk getting his own spin-off series and on Marvel’s new fondness for the Squadron Supreme in general. But if Walker and Villalobos can separate Marvel’s Dark Owl from his inspiration in a cool, unique way then this series could be worth checking out.
Wait. Nighthawk has to look in the mirror to find the killer? It’s going to be another alternate reality version of him isn’t it? Post-“Secret Wars” Marvel is so god damn weird.
Continued belowNIGHTHAWK #1
DAVID WALKER (W) • RAMON VILLALOBOS (A)
Cover by DENYS COWAN and BILL SIENKIEWICZ
VARIANT COVER BY Rafael Albuquerque
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
HIP-HOP VARIANT COVER BY BILL SIENKIEWICZ
YOUNG VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
Straight from the pages of SQUADRON SUPREME comes one of the most brutal super heroes of the Marvel Universe. Nighthawk is Chicago’s dark protector, dispensing swift, decisive justice to those that truly deserve it. When the city’s shadiest power brokers turn up murdered in gristly ways, the apparent work of an inventive serial killer, Nighthawk must ask himself, Does this predator deserve to be caught? Who is the killer? What is he after? What does he want from Nighthawk? To answer these questions, Nighthawk must first look in the mirror.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
6. Rolling Thunder
Jim Zub writing “Thunderbolts”? I’m in. If only for the scene where Winter Soldier tries to recap everything that happened in his last solo series.
THUNDERBOLTS #1
Jim Zub (W) • Jon Malin (A/C)
VARIANT COVER BY MARK BAGLEY
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
AGE OF APOCALYPSE VARIANT COVER BY TBA
HIP-HOP VARIANT COVER BY TONY PIPER
FROM THE ASHES OF AVENGERS: STANDOFF!
They’re a renegade team rampaging across the Marvel Universe under the direction of the Winter Soldier! But are the Thunderbolts heroes or villains—and do even they know for sure?
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99
5. Ya Boy Kev
Kevin Maguire is guest-drawing an issue of Chip Zdarsky’s “Howard the Duck” and if that isn’t the second raddest thing you heard all month you can get out of my face. You’ll find out what the most raddest thing is in a couple minutes.
HOWARD THE DUCK #7
CHIP ZDARSKY (W) • KEVIN MAGUIRE (A)
COVER BY KEVIN MAGUIRE & JOE QUINONES
AGE OF APOCALYPSE VARIANT COVER BY Bobby Rubio
• When a case takes Howard and Tara to the SAVAGE LAND, they need all the help they can get! But instead, they make do with SPIDER-MAN, SHE-HULK, DAREDEVIL and STEVE ROGERS!
• Join Chip and special guest artist KEVIN MAGUIRE (!!!!) for an issue we like to call “Howard the Duck Volume Six, Issue Seven!”
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
4. Obligatory Reminder to Read The Vision
“The Vision” is so good. It’s illegal good. I want to arrest every issue for being so good. Not only have Tom King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta performed a miracle in making The Vision feel relevant again, but now Micahel Walsh is coming in to explore his relationship with Scarlet Witch. Wonderful. Just wonderful.
THE VISION #7
TOM KING (W) • MICHAEL WALSH (A)
COVER BY MIKE DEL MUNDO
A NEW STORY STARTS NOW!
• Once upon a time a robot and a witch fell in love. What followed was a tale of the dead and the dying, of the hopeful and the lost, of the wronged and the avenged. And in the end, after both had fallen, the witch and the robot rose from their dirt and eyed each other across a field of blood and bone.
• Forty-five years in the making, this is the story of Scarlet Witch and the Vision. Before family, there was love. And war.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
3. White Dad Is Back
We all knew it was coming but here it is. After this May’s “Standoff” crossover, Steve Rogers is going back to being his young Aryan self, taking back the shield. There’s not much of a hook here besides Steve beingg back and HYDRA showing up to cause some hijinks, but Nick Spencer has been killing it on “Astonishing Ant-Man” and it’ll be interesting to see if the irreverent energy in that comic will transfer to Marvel’s Sentinel of Liberty, especially with “manhunter” artist Jesus Saiz on board.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: STEVE ROGERS #1
NICK SPENCER (W) • JESUS SAIZ (A/C)
Cover by JESUS SAIZ
VARIANT COVER BY STEVE EPTING
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
YOUNG VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
AGE OF APOCALYPSE VARIANT COVER BY Paul Renaud
HIP-HOP VARIANT COVER BY TBA
CAPTAIN AMERICA 75TH ANNIVERSARY VARIANT COVER BY TBA
He’s back! The original Sentinel of Liberty returns, with a new shield, a new team, and a new mission! And he’s not the only one who’s back! Like the saying goes– cut off one LIMB, two more will take its place! HAIL HYDRA!
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99
2. Sammy’s Still Here!
Good news! Sam Wilson didn’t have his wings glued back onto him. Now, I haven’t been following along with the current “Captain America” series (I fell off the wagon around the last Remender run) but it’s good to see that Marvel’s going the “Batman RIP” route and making room for two Caps. Hopefully this doesn’t end with Sam getting fake murdered by Red Skull’s daughter so he can spend a couple years in space.
Continued belowCAPTAIN AMERICA: SAM WILSON #9
NICK SPENCER (W) • ANGEL UNZUETA (A/C)
STANDOFF Epilogue!
• With Steve Rogers back as Cap, Sam struggles to find his place. Can the country handle two Captain Americas?
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
1. No Good Deed
Maybe it’s just the new Daredevil trailer, but I am on board every car of the new “Punisher” hype train. No, wait. It’s Becky Colonna and Steve Dillon taking Frank Castle to the edge! That’s where Punisher 2099 lives!
Okay, maybe this isn’t the Punisher 2099 follow-up I’ve been asking for on a daily basis, but this look like the modern “Punisher” series I’ve been waiting for since the Greg Rucka run ended.
THE PUNISHER #1
BECKY CLOONAN (W) • STEVE DILLON (A)
Cover by Declan Shalvey
HIP-HOP VARIANT COVER BY TIM BRADSTREET
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
VARIANT COVER BY ALEX MALEEV
YOUNG VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
AGE OF APOCALYPSE VARIANT COVER BY Chris Stevens
BLACK PANTHER 50TH ANNIVERSARY VARIANT BY PHIL NOTO
CAPTAIN AMERICA 75TH ANNIVERSARY VARIANT COVER BY TBA
FRANK CASTLE LOSES CONTROL!
A by-the-numbers drug bust is about to take Frank Castle by surprise…and he HATES surprises. The horrible fallout threatens to send The Punisher into the heart of darkness, but Castle won’t make that journey alone: A DEA agent is on his trail and attempting to get into his head…but what horrors will she find there, and will she survive the experience? First-time Punisher writer Becky Cloonan and quintessential Punisher artist Steve Dillon are forcing Frank Castle out of his comfort zone and taking him to the edge of the world he thought he knew!
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99
Here are Marvel’s May 2016 solicitations courtesy of Comic Book Resources
