The watchful, completely objective and correct gaze of Soliciting Multiversity now falls upon Marvel’s crop of titles for June 2015. Below are our ten most interesting titles for June 2015.
Take a look at our picks below and let us know what stuck out to you in the comments!
10. The Only Non-Secret Wars Thing Here
Spoilers: the rest of this list is going to be about “Secret Wars” tie-ins. That’s what happens when an entire line explodes. If I don’t mention a specific ongoing book here, just assume our thoughts are “Hey we’re glad this is still going strong!”
The new “Star Wars” comic has been a massive success for Marvel which isn’t really a surprise. It’s Aaron and Cassaday on the first canon Star Wars thing since the expanded universe got retconned. That said, how wild is it that “Star Wars” is apparently so successful that it earned its own cover collection? Don’t get me wrong, there have been some great covers and variants for this series but not nearly enough to make them in an entirely separate book. I’m glad Marvel’s finding success with the Star Wars license, but I think a collection like this might be a bit too cocky, especially when most of these covers haven’t even been released yet. Besides, it’s not like this hardcover is getting sent out on LootCrate too.
STAR WARS: THE MARVEL COVERS VOL. 1 HC ROSS COVER
Penciled by VARIOUS
Cover by Alex Ross
Star Wars has returned to Marvel, and a galaxy of comic-book stars have joined the celebration! Welcome back Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, Artoo, Threepio, Darth Vader and the rest as you’ve never seen them before in this astonishing collection of covers from the likes of John Cassaday, Joe Quesada, Alex Ross, Skottie Young, J. Scott Campbell, Salvador Larroca, Terry Dodson and plenty more! Featuring every illustrated variant of the million-selling STAR WARS #1, plus all the covers of STAR WARS #2-6, PRINCESS LEIA #1-5 and DARTH VADER #1-6. Then prepare to be wowed by the new cover art from Marvel’s classic STAR WARS collections, including Adi Granov’s sensational takes on the original trilogy. It’s packed with special features, but this is one book you should judge by its covers!
208 PGS./All Ages …$34.99
9. The Flashpoint Problem
I truly have no idea what the motivation behind this is beyond the shock value of “Ultrons vs. Zombies.” It’s a cool idea but one that someone at a comic shop would say as a joke and everyone laugh at it for a little bit, but then the next day that person shows up with a full issue that we’re expected to buy. Also that person is James Robinson and Steve Pugh.
I don’t want to say these titles are pointless because demeaning the works of two creators, wildly talented ones at that, is a shitty thing to say, but they do seem like they’re kind of destined to get lost in the shuffle. Do you remember “Flashpoint”? Barely right? Do you remember “Deadman and the Flying Graysons”? Do you remember “Deathstroke & the Curse of the Ravager”? Do you remember freaking “Flashpoint: Secret Seven”? Peter Milligan and George Pérez worked on that book and I don’t think they remember “Secret Seven.” Hell, I had to Bing it just to make that specific point.
What I’m getting at is that I am always going to be supportive of books that are trying something new and or crazy but it’s hard to when every book is trying to be new and wacky. It may seem funny in the comic store to see “Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies” or “Mrs. Deadpool and The Howling Commandoes” #1 and I’m sure they’ll be pretty great but they also seem kind of doomed to end up in that weird purgatory of forgotten event tie-ins. Hopefully, “House of M: Masters of Evil” will save a seat for them.
Continued belowAGE OF ULTRON VS. MARVEL ZOMBIES #1
JAMES ROBINSON (w) • STEVE PUGH (a)
Cover by CARLOS PACHECO
VARIANT cover by ROCK-HE KIM
MAOS VARIANT COVER BY TBA
ANT-SIZED VARIANT COVER BY PAT BRODERICK
YOUNG VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
BLANK COVER VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
THE ULTIMATE DEATH SENTENCE IN BATTLEWORLD
• There’s a place that’s so dangerous it’s walled off from the rest of BATTLEWORLD…
• …where WILD ZOMBIES feast on those who’ve been banished for crimes against the state.
• …where cold, mechanical ULTRONS destroy anything that’s human.
• Pity those who get caught between the two, for their death WON’T be fast and painless!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
8. The Spider-Verse Problem
If you’ve been reading Multiversity Comics for a while then you’ll know that I loved “Spider-Verse” more than I loved my own family. It took the Spider-Man mythos in a thousand different directions in a way that really explored what the character is all about. It made anthology series fun again with “Edge of Spider-Verse” which gave us Spider-Gwen, the most unintentionally successful character of the Marvel NOW! era. Also, Gerard Way wrote Evangelion fan-fic. Truly, a golden era.
There’s definitely some influence from “Spider-Verse” evident in “Secret Wars”, mostly in how they’re going all out on alternate versions of characters but not in any way that seems to harken back to a core tenet of who that character is. Books like “Secret Wars Journal” don’t really seem to be exploring characters so much as playing Mad Libs with them. And who knows, Lord Sinister and his personal chef Matt Murdock could be the best thing to come out of this event but the deck is stacked so high against it that it may be hard for a wacky and irreverent book like “Secret Wars Journal” to be noticed in a sea of books also being wacky and irreverent. It’s like Marvel took all the juicy potential of “Spider-Verse” and now they’re applying it to a series that has nothing to do with the format of “Spider-Verse.” But it’s not like they would just literally revive an event that literally just wrapped a month ago right?
SECRET WARS JOURNAL #2 (OF 5)
KEVIN MAURER and SI SPURRIER (w)
CORY SMITH and JONATHAN MARKS (a)
Cover by SANFORD GREENE
• It’s Kraven’s Last Hunt in KILLVILLE…and Detectives Misty Knight and Paladin are the hunted!
• Lord Sinister’s secret weapon is his top shelf chef, MATT MURDOCK! But what happens when Sinister comes between Murdock and his love, rare food scout COLLEKTRA?
• The BEST SECRET WARS ANTHOLOGY continues! YOU HEARD US, SECRET WARS: BATTLEWORLD!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
7. Right?!
On the plus side, Gwen facing Norman Osborn sounds ridiculously boss. On the negative side, this should have been “Spider-Gwen and Her Amazing Friends” with any mention of the Drake Bell Ultimate Spider-Man eradicated. This is where we all take a moment of silence for Boomb Tube.
SPIDER-VERSE #2
MIKE COSTA (w) • ANDRE ARAÚJO (a)
Cover by NICK BRADSHAW
VARIANT COVER BY RICHARD ISANOVE
• Spider-Gwen is on Battleworld and face-to-face with Norman Osborn.
• This can’t end well.
• But what’s going on with the rest of the Web-Warriors?
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
6. One Moment in Time 2: Two Moments in Time
I love how we’re approaching the eighth anniversary of “One More Day” and everyone’s reaction is still “for the love of god, please stop talking about it.” Look at that final line in the solicit and how mocking it seems. Absolutely no one has been asking for this.
That said, I trust Dan Slott with anything Spider-Man at this point and actually exploring “THE LAST SPIDER-MAN STORY” seems like the sort of cool thing that “Secret Wars” could be used to explore. Make it an extended “What if?” crossover rather than a bunch of action figures being jammed together in twenty small sandboxes.
Continued belowAMAZING SPIDER-MAN: RENEW YOUR VOWS #1 & #2
DAN SLOTT (w) • ADAM KUBERT (a/C)
ISSUE #1 VARIANT COVER BY J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
ISSUE #1 ACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
ISSUE #1 MAOS VARIANT COVER BY TBA
ISSUE #1 ANT-SIZED VARIANT COVER BY TBA
ISSUE #1 VARIANT COVER BY TBA
ISSUE #1 YOUNG VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
ISSUE #1 BLANK VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
ISSUE #2 VARIANT COVER BY RYAN STEGMAN
THE LAST SPIDER-MAN STORY
• Not even The Amazing Spider-Man is safe from Secret Wars! In this new Marvel Universe, Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson and their daughter have to scrape by to make ends meet, but they have each other…
• Face front, True Believers. This is the one you’ve been asking for.
32 PGS. (EACH)/Rated T …$3.99 (EACH)
5. The Dream of Robbie Reyes is Alive in “Secret Wars”
I am deeply relieved that “All-New Ghost Rider” is still continuing, even if this is the last hurrah. Seeing Robbie Reyes team up with every Ghost Rider ever is bound to be cool, especially with Juan Gideon on art. I have a really fickle concern with this though, which is why isn’t it just “All-New Ghost Rider” #13? Marvel may enjoy the burst of sales new #1’s allegedly get every time (?) but is making an entire month of #1’s the way to go about this? It may work story wise as a “books from different universes” type deal but, from reading the solicits, all the new titles are just overwhelming.
All complaining about formatting and numbering aside though, GHOST RIDER GRAND PRIX LET’S DO THIS!
GHOST RACERS #1
FELIPE SMITH (w) • JUAN GEDEON (a)
Cover by FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA
SLADE VARIANT cover by DAN PANOSIAN
ROBBIE REYES VARIANT COVER BY TRADD MOORE
ANT-SIZED VARIANT COVER BY MARK TEXEIRA
FURIOUS RACE FROM HELL IN A BLAZING ARENA OF HORROR!!!
• Welcome to the scorching-hot track where cursed souls race at the speed of sin, anything and everything goes and the only rule is no rule–it’s the spectacle known as the GHOST RACES; the most hellish “entertainment” known to BATTLEWORLD!
• 1st place prize: Temporary freedom from the ARENA, but what happens to the unlucky and unholy losers?
• It’s all-out, high-speed warfare among the most bizarre and vicious GHOST RIDERS of the MARVEL UNIVERSE. Expect MANY familiar SKULLS!!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
4. A Tie-In We Won’t Run Away From
If there’s been a single trend in my negative reaction to “Secret Wars” (and all complaining aside, I am actually looking quite forward to it) it’s how none of the tie-ins seem to really reach back to the main story. A lot of them seemed to be nostalgia bombs or too wacky for their own good. “Runaways” meanwhile seems to actually dig out a new corner of whatever Battleworld is with a component that ties it into the larger conflict. Unless Phil Noto’s cover is lying and Valeria Richards isn’t suddenly leading a new team of young superheroes she found. If that’s the case then I’ll feel like a darn fool. Plus, this is the first full Marvel comic from Noelle Stevenson of “Lumberjanes”! We’re always down for newer talent in Marvel and “Secret Wars” seems to have a good number of that with this, “X-Men ’92” and “Secret Wars: Battleworld” among others.
RUNAWAYS #1
NOELLE STEVENSON (w) • SANFORD GREENE (a/C)
VARIANT COVER BY PHIL NOTO
• The best and brightest teens from all corners of Battleworld are chosen to attend a prestigious school on the planet’s capital!
• But what does the new class do when they discover the school’s beloved headmaster is actually a diabolical super villain? RUN AWAY!
• A SECRET WARS story like none other from the remarkable minds of Noelle Stevenson (LUMBERJANES) and Sanford Greene (UNCANNY AVENGERS)!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
3. Get Weird
We are also major fans of Jason Aaron and Mike del Mundo suddenly being on a swords and sorcery comic about Arkon. Whoever Rabum Alal is, I’m thrilled that he decided that Battleworld should have one corner where all the hardcore fantasy and sci-fi stuff would be granted to Aaron and del Mundo. If any of these titles continue past “Secret Wars”, I would put my money on “Weirdworld” being one of them.
Continued belowWEIRDWORLD #1
JASON AARON (w)
MICHAEL DEL MUNDO (a/C)
VARIANT COVER BY STEVE EPTING
VARIANT COVER BY SIMON BISLEY
VARIANT COVER BY JENNY FRISON
MAOS VARIANT COVER BY TBA
YOUNG VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
DESIGN VARIANT BY MICHAEL DEL MUNDO
BLANK VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
• Welcome to the wildest, most dangerous new corner of the Marvel Universe. Welcome to Weirdworld.
• A world of swords and sorcery and strange, perverted science. A world where one barbarian walks alone, on a dark and savage quest though all things weird and fantastic from throughout Marvel history.
• His name is Arkon. A lost man in a lost world. Follow him if you dare.
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
2. Nostalgia Perfect
Another aspect of “Secret Wars” tie-ins that we like is one where creators can revisits old runs and just go HAM on them. Here, Peter David’s going back to The Maestro and setting him against Ruby Summers, one of the more under-utilized characters in his “X-Factor” run. And I know that I just made a hissy fit about characters being Mad-Libbed into situations for the sake of “epic” stories or whatever but Odin vs. The Maestro sounds like the rawest showdown of all time.
Also, I am dying to see what the InGwenible Hulk variant could possibly be.
FUTURE IMPERFECT #1
PETER DAVID (w)
GREG LAND (a/C)
Variant Cover by DALE KEOWN
ANT-SIZED VARIANT COVER BY DALE KEOWN
THE INGWENIBLE HULK VARIANT COVER BY NICK BRADSHAW
ON BATTLEWORLD, THE DICTATOR OF DYSTOPIA IS A FAMILIAR FACE!
• THE MAESTRO rules but there are those who want him dethroned!
• What role does RUBY SUMMERS have in the plan for this dangerous rebellion?
• Have the rebels genuinely found ODIN, the father of The Gods, as an ally against the Maestro?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
1. Fixing Everything
I know I’ve been pretty harsh on some of the titles in this Top 10 and I swear I have a reason. My brother and I don’t get along on a lot of stuff but we’ll sometimes agree on comics. Especially when those comics are Hickman’s run on “Fantastic Four.” In case you haven’t read it, it’s probably one of the best representation of what Marvel Comics are about. And once that was over, Hickman’s “Avengers” run came along and built to a much slower burn than “Fantastic Four” did. My brother ditched comics for a bit and I still stayed on, hoping to see this series become as good as I knew it could be.
And lately, it did. After a very weird build-up, Hickman’s work on “Avengers” starting around last summer has been pretty damn great. He’s created a massive multiverse shattering event, one with three years of backstabbing and politicking around it. It’s basically “Crisis on Infinite Earths” meets House of Cards. And now, we’re finally reaching the end of one hell of a journey. There’s probably never been a comic I’ve wanted to succeed as hard as this one which is why I’m scrutinizing almost every aspect of the whole crossover so much. This has been close to three years in the making. “Secret Wars”, and the build up to it, has been one of the few instances where I could actually buy any sort of “end” to the Marvel Universe. It should be massive, but the amount of irreverent tie-ins seem to be making it smaller. As if the war for all of reality is just one more title.
Ultimately, that shouldn’t matter too much. Hickman seems to be pulling out all the stops of everything he’s done at Marvel with this series. Heaven knows that cover for issue #3 gave me chills. His parallel characterizations of Reed Richards in “Fantastic Four” and Ultimate Marvel were always an interesting reflection of each other, especially since Ultimate never joined the council of Richards and met our Reed. And with “Secret Wars”, that looks to come to an end.
If I can put the speculation cap on for a moment, Ultimate Reed might be the actual Rabum Alal, breaking down all worlds to create his one perfect Garden. It would make one hell of a climax for our Reed, as well as Hickman’s work at Marvel in general. It would also mean I owe my brother five dollars because he came up with that theory a few months ago.
I really want to lose those five dollars.
SECRET WARS #3 (OF 8)
JONATHAN HICKMAN (w) • ESAD RIBIC (a)
Cover by ALEX ROSS
VARIANT cover by ESAD RIBIC
Connecting cover by SIMONE BIANCHI
VARIANT cover by MARGUERITE SAUVAGE
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
DR. GWENDGE VARIANT COVER BY NICK BRADSHAW
VARIANT COVER BY BOB MCLEOD
ALL THE DEVILS DANCE!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
If you want to follow along here’s Marvel’s June 2015 solicitations courtesy of CBR.
