In the final piece of our week long look at May solicitations (see: Dark Horse, Image, DC), we finally put our lense to Marvel’s massive set of offerings — more than any other publisher — for May.
Check behind the cut for some thoughts on Marvel’s May offerings, and click here to see the full solicits.
AvX: Now With Three More Parts Than April!
In April I counted 9 tie-ins for the Marvel event, and May ramps it up even further with an additional tie-in. With two main story issues and one straight tie-in, we also have four Avengers titles tying in (with one double shipping!) and three X-Men titles tying in (with two double shipping!).
Then again, they were all books I was planning to read anyway and this still far more preferred than previous years worth of events that spilled over everything Marvel was publishing, so I guess we just have to be thankful for small favors; without the word Avengers or X-Men on the cover, I don’t think we’ll be seeing a tie-in. Marvel said they were sticking to their guns with this one and, all things considered, they truly are.
That Jerome Opena variant is pretty awesome regardless.
Kaare Andrews Is Still Making Fantastic Covers
Again in April, I gushed a bit over Kaare Andrews’ covers for the Ultimate line. Nothing has changed since then; his covers are still absolutely gorgeous, and I wanted to share.
Rob Williams Writes Union Jack
Would I like the rest of that statement to be “In A New Ongoing”? Sure. Of course I would. Rob Williams is the only man I could think of for the job (except Paul Grist, for obvious reasons)
However, getting a story in a one-shot tie-in to the upcoming Spider-Man storyline “Ends of the Earth”, written alongside Dan Slott and Brian Clevinger and featuring the Big Hero Six (for the first time since 2008), is something I will graciously accept.
Besides, it’s not like anyone else was doing anything with him… (cue sad face here)
Immonen’s Assemble!
In Avenging Spider-Man #7, the book apparently continues to be a vehicle for creators to tell short stories with specific characters in relation to Spider-Man, with Kathryn and Stuart Immonen teaming up to tell a She-Hulk story. In his original review for us, Patrick Tobin ascertained that people who buy the book are buying it for the names on the cover, and not so much the story inside. That is very much the case here, and issue #7 will certainly prove it beyond the shadow of a doubt (assuming any of you had doubts).
Truth be told, I already miss the original line-up. Yeah, that Hawkeye story with Greg Land was fun, and I’m looking forward to Lenil Yu drawing Spider-Man and Captain America, but with this being the second Zeb Wells-less book of the series, I am crossing my fingers that he returns soon. Wells has a great take on Spider-Man and told some of my favorite stories from the Brand New Day-era of Amazing. It’d be a shame to see him off the book entirely.
That being said, how could I say no to the Immonen’s? That’d just be crazy.
Patrick Zircher Is So Hot Right Now
It seems like I couldn’t escape Patrick Zircher even if I wanted to. First truly popping up on my radar in Mystery Men and immediately having subsequent stints on books like Hulk and a litany of Marvel covers.
Continued belowNow, in addition to a few more covers, Zircher is joining Ed Brubaker on Captain America for an arc called “Shock To The System”, featuring villains in witness protection getting murdered. If you look at the math, it’s kind of a perfect combo: Brubaker (the man who wrote Marvels Project, the secret pulp-history of the Marvel U) + Zircher (the artist who drew Mystery Men, a pulp-based Marvel mini set before Captain America even existed) = a great deal, and I can’t wait to see his take on the character and his world.
Everything is coming up Zircher!
Jonathan Hickman Re-imagines A Bit More History
May will see the publication of Fantastic Four #605.1 by Hickman and artist Mike Choi. The issue is entitled “The Four”, and the solicit text reads as follows:
– The Secret History of the Fantastic Four
– Everything starts just like you remember…
– It ends like something completely different.
Should be quite interesting to see what sort of revisionist take on the Fantastic Four’s history Hickman plans to throw in this time, as well as how it ties into the rest of his work overall.
Your move, Jonathan.
I Am Probably More Excited For Exiled Over Anything Else
I have made absolutely no secret of my love of Journey Into Mystery, and don’t plan to start now.
Meanwhile, while it’s always been an enjoyable title, New Mutants has been on an uptick once DnA got through their first arc and really started becoming comfortable in the character’s shoes. The last issue, featuring a date with the Devil, particularly showed off the strong dynamic DnA are bringing to the title.
Put the two together? It’s like I’m being pandered to at this point.
Paolo Rivera Stills Wins All The Awards For Best Cover
Let me preface this by noting that I could honestly care less that the cover is a woman opening her shirt. What impresses me here is the integration of sonic angle Waid and Rivera have been playing up over the series now being used in addressing Matt Murdock’s sexuality (i.e. the sonically assessed chest, the completely flesh hands).
It is a cover with the male-gaze in mind, assuredly, but it is also downright clever and in line with everything Waid has done with Rivera and Martin in the book so far.
(I still don’t think the book is that great, but damn if these covers don’t trick me into purchasing the book month after month.)
Cullen Bunn Is Going To Make A Great Jason Aaron
Apparently for his first storyline, Cullen Bunn is going to bring back Dr. Rot.
Yes, that Dr. Rot.
If there is a better person to come in and re-tool an old Aaron story, I’m completely unaware of their identity.
There’s a New Deadpool!
…but probably not.
Well, who knows.
Fury MAX Returns
In my comic collection, I have two Fury-centric minis by Garth Ennis and Darrick Robertson. The first, Fury MAX, is about how much Nick Fury loves being in a war. The second, Fury: Peacemaker, is about how much Nick Fury loves being in a war.
The solicit information for Fury MAX‘s second volume reads,
In the wake of World War II, Fury is fast running out of battles to fight. But the world’s superpowers are gearing up for a new kind of war and they’ll need a man like Fury to win it.
This is by no means meant to offer up any disrespect to Ennis, but if his Punisher collaborator Goran Parlov on interiors and Dave Johnson on covers weren’t involved, I might have passed on this. While there is assumedly no connection to the Fury of Jason Aaron’s Punisher MAX, one could certainly cross their fingers for a little continuity nod.
Continued belowRegardless, though, it’ll be great to see Parlov drawing Fury again.
If You Missed This The First Time, Here’s Your Chance
Grant Morrison’s New X-Men run, in it’s entry, in one single volume. You know what to do from here.
