This is it — our last look at solicits for the month, and as always we end with Marvel. Of course, this month is unlike any other months, as Marvel has released a really odd batch of solicitations, some of which are missing and some of which don’t even really bother to solicit themselves. What’s up with that?
We’ll take a look at all that information here, but if you want to see the full solicitations you can find them at the Resource of Comic Books.
10. Your Monthly “Original Sin” Tie-In Count: 7
July brings “Original Sin” even closer to an end, with two more issues that bring us ever closer to the identity of who shot the Watcher. The book will also spill out into two issues of the “Avengers” and “Deadpool,” as well as an issue each of “Fantastic Four” and “Mighty Avengers.” Plus, the official solicitation for “Original Sin” itself is classified, so, you know, Marvel is being information central on this one.
Don’t get me wrong: the cone of silence around the book is super nice in comparison to how events are usually spoiled and ruined months in advance. That still might be coming, but considering how condensed it is (8 issues over 4 months), it’s nice to see Marvel at least trying to keep quiet on the book.
9. How Shocking
So, Spider-Man 2099 is getting a brand new ongoing again, written by Peter David and illustrated by Will Sliney. I can not claim to be a fan of Spidey 2099, even though I read this book (and “Venom 2099” and others) as a kid, but I’m sort of intrigued to see how it’ll play out. He’s not actually in 2099 anymore, so it’s really just a secondary Spider-Man title — and those, historically, do not do well. They do OK, and they usually hang on for some time, but they’re often brought to abrupt ends after a year or so.
But with Peter David at the helm? And as his first non-X-Factor title at Marvel in forever? Well, I’m definitely intrigued.
SPIDER-MAN 2099 #1
PETER DAVID (W) • WILLIAM SLINEY (A)
Cover by SIMONE BIANCHI
Variant COVER BY RICK LEONARDI
Variant COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
INTERLOCKING VARIANT “C” BY J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
ALL-NEW SERIES FROM THE PAGES OF AMAZING SPIDER-MAN!
The book you have been demanding for months finally hits the stands! Miguel O’Hara is Spider-Man in the year 2099 but he’s currently stuck in the year 2014. He was stranded here by his father who is the head of an evil corporation called Alchemax in 2099. But in 2014, Alechmax has just been formed and Miguel has a chance to stop its corruption before it starts! You’d think being a man out of time would make you a man without enemies, but Spider-Man 2099 is about to discover that he’s not the only one hoping for a better tomorrow, one that might be ensured by The Adjustor eliminating Miguel from the time stream altogether! Join comics legend (and Spider-Man 2099 creator) Peter David and breakthrough artist Will Sliney (Superior Spider-Man Team-up) for the most adventure you’ll find in a book this side of the twenty second century!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
8. Ed McGuinness Joins the Guardians, Leaves the X-Men
When it was announced that Jason Aaron would leave the “Amazing X-Men” book, I think we were all incredibly sad — but at the very least, Ed McGuinness would continue on with the new writing team of Kyle and Yost. However, this month reveals that McGuinness is off that book, replaced by Carlo Barberi, and will instead by drawing “Guardians of the Galaxy” with Brian Michael Bendis.
Marvel tends to play fast and loose with their artists, and it can be annoying to be a fan of an artist on one title and see them just hop over to another. But, that said, “Guardians” seems like a nice fit for McGuinness, so I’m certainly up to see what he does with the team. And it’ll be right before the movie comes out too, so who knows, maybe this issue will be the one that really gets people amped about the Guardians?
Continued belowGUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #17
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (W) • Ed McGuinness (A/C)
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY ARTIST VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
• With some new faces on the team, it might be time for the Guardians to have a little team-building vacation.
• Or, you know, they could keep fighting alien warlords and galactic empires.
• Guess they’ll have to plan that team-building retreat for next month.
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
7. Secret Avengers: Act Two
If you actually sit and read all of the solicits like we do, you may have noticed an interesting detail pop-up in the “Secret Avengers” solicits — that of the notion of Act Two. Traditionally speaking, things are often done in a three-act structure. It’s not always the case, but it’s probably the safe bet. So if “Secret Avengers” is heading into its second act at issue 6, you can imagine that around issue #10 we’ll see Act Three — which is to say, the ending is perhaps somewhat already in sight.
Ales and Michael are very clearly going towards a singular, definitive ending, and I think that’s a good thing. Think “Young Avengers,” and how great that was; I’d love to see this creative team have the same opportunity to tell such a concentrated story.
SECRET AVENGERS #5 & 6
ALES KOT (W)
MICHAEL WALSH (A)
CoverS by TRADD MOORE
Issue 5 – “THE DROP”
• Death on the Helicarrier. The killer is at large. Hill leads the investigation.
• Another incident on board. No-one expects a proper acid bath.
• Coulson goes rogue. Hawkeye wonders. Spider-Woman talks with a new friend.
Issue 6 – “ACT TWO/THE SPEEDING REIGN OF COLLAPSE”
• Black Widow, Spider-Woman and Hawkeye go after Lady Bullseye and Artaud Derrida.
• What does S.H.I.E.L.D. want with the Fury? M.O.D.O.K. will show you!
• Coulson’s investigation takes him to Peru.
32 PGS. (EACH)/Rated T+ …$3.99 (EACH)
6. Oh, Hey, Look — More Confirmation Ultimate Peter Parker is Back
I don’t mean to be a spoil-sport, but if you read “Ultimate Spider-Man” #200 then you saw a glimpse of a figure in the bushes outside of Ultimate Peter Parker’s house at a gathering held for his friends to celebrate his life. And, if you’re like us, you saw the writing on the wall. A story called ‘Revival’ that’s shocking? Wasn’t too much of a guess.
Of course, of note here is that Green Goblin is the one who is back. Which is interesting, because Miles doesn’t ostensibly have a Green Goblin in his life; his biggest foe was his uncle, but his uncle died. So it’ll be interesting to see how he deals with the man who killed Peter Par–
Oh, wait. Look at the solicit. If you don’t think Peter is coming back after reading that, then I don’t know what to tell you.
(That’s the unfortunate thing about solicits, right? They come out in advance of the book and therefore give away certain information. Of course, they didn’t have to telegraph Peter’s return like this, but, y’know, whatever.)
MILES MORALES: THE ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #3
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (W) • DAVE MARQUEZ (A/C)
Variant Cover by SARA PICHELLI
• PART THREE OF “REVIVAL” THE MOST SHOCKING SPIDER-MAN STORY OF THE YEAR
• MILES MORALES comes face-to-face with the worst nightmare of the Ultimate SPIDER-MAN Legacy…
• NORMAN OSBORN…the GREEN GOBLIN…the man who killed PETER PARKER… or did he?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
5. The End of Remender’s Captain America?
In the same way we raise an eye at the “Secret Avengers” solicit, I will point you to the “Captain America” solicitation which makes note of “the final chapter,” and the return of Arnim Zola and the Red Skull. It would appear that “Captain America” is similarly being told in the three-act structure, and this is the culmination of everything that Remender has been building since his first issue.
Which, to be honest, is great. Remender has notoriously really nailed the finales of his various superhero runs, and I’d be very interested to see what he does with the Red Skull in a more intimate setting (ie not that first arc of “Uncanny Avengers” that was quite all over the place). Red Skull vs. Cap? Lets do it up.
Continued belowCAPTAIN AMERICA #22
RICK REMENDER (W) • CARLOS PACHECO (A/C)
75th Anniversary Variant by ALEX ROSS
75th Anniversary SKETCH Variant by ALEX ROSS
The Tomorrow Soldier part 1
• This is it! The final chapter of the story that begin in Dimension Z!
• After the Earth shattering events of last issue how can Steve Rogers survive his new situation?
• Two of his oldest foes move forward their plot! Enter Arnim Zola and The Red Skull!
• A face from the past hunts Steve. Can even The Avengers keep him safe?
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
4. And Then There’s Rocket
I don’t think I really need to justify a “Rocket Raccoon” book written and illustrated by Skottie Young to anyone because it’s a “Rocket Raccoon” book written and illustrated by Skottie Young.
Also: that David Petersen variant, holy flark.
ROCKET RACCOON #1
SKOTTIE YOUNG (W) • SKOTTIE YOUNG (A/C)
Variant by DAVID PETERSEN
Variant by Skottie Young
STAN LEE LEGO VARIANT BY Leonel Castellani
movie VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
Blank VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
ALL-NEW, IN-CONTINUITY SERIES!
As defenders of the cosmos go, Rocket Raccoon has faced his fair share of galactic battles. He’s been a hero to the weak, a champion of good, a protector of the innocent, a heartthrob to the many intergalactic female species and now–a raccoon on the run?! ( I’m sorry, I’m sorry, a “formidable-and-expert-Guardian” on the run. Rocket is NOT a raccoon, okay?) Rocket’s high-flying life of adventure and heroism may soon be a thing of the past when he becomes a wanted man—and the authorities are not the only one on his TAIL! (We’ll definitely be overusing that pun!)
Superstar creator Skottie Young brings his A-game as writer and artist on the series we’ve been waiting decades for. Because let’s be real, this is the only Guardian of the Galaxy you actually care about. Am I right?
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
3. Marvel Gets Catty in Solicits
So for our top three this month, I want to point out how weird Marvel is being about their solicitations in July.
First, lets take a look at the “Moon Knight” solicit.
MOON KNIGHT #5
WARREN ELLIS (W) • DECLAN SHALVEY (A/C)
• An abandoned hotel in New York contains a single abductee and upwards of twenty armed mob enforcers. Moon Knight is going to go inside and rescue the abductee. Alone.
• Every issue has sold out! Go ahead and up your orders so your readers don’t miss out!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
“Go ahead and up your orders” really tells you a lot about what is coming in this issue of “Moon Knight,” doesn’t it?
Marvel has been getting aggressive about their orders, and for obvious reasons: they want their books to sell, they want them to do well, they want them to get in the hands of readers. But man, that solicit is just kind of annoying, isn’t it? Maybe it’s just me — and I’m not a retailer, and I pre-order all my books so this remark isn’t aimed at me — but that kind of stuff seems to be more of a turn-off than anything else. Sure, people should know that an Ellis/Shalvey/Bellaire book is an instant buy, but I would imagine that putting out good and exciting content that makes people want to read it is more of a way to get orders up than to make passive aggressive remarks at the people who order the books in the first place.
But what do I know.
2. There Are (At Least) 8 Missing Books in July’s Solicitations
Looking through the solicitations this month, I couldn’t help but notice that a lot of books are missing — particularly ones I like.
July is missing solicits for “Loki: Agent of Asgard,” “Hawkeye,” “Iron Man,” “Amazing Spider-Man,” “Hulk,” “Uncanny X-Men” and “Wolverine” (and maybe more, if I’m forgetting anything), and this seems really weird to me. There’s also no solicitation of that “Original Sins” mini-series that Ryan North and Ramon Villalobos are doing, and I can’t imagine that that would just release two issues in June and then disappear, right?
Continued belowJuly is a weird month of solicitation for Marvel, and I imagine that they’re going to be releasing a second batch soon. Or at least some kind of announcement, particularly because:
1. There are 9 Books Solicited with No Information in July’s Solicitations
What? Take a look at this:
LEGENDARY STAR LORD #1
MARVEL COMICS
(W) Sam Humphries (A) Paco Medina (CA) Steve McNiven
CLASSIFIED100TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1 GOTG
MARVEL COMICS
(W) Andy Lanning (A) Gustavo Duarte (CA) David Lopez
CLASSIFIED100TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1 SPIDER-MAN
MARVEL COMICS
(W) Sean Ryan (A/CA) In-Hyuk Lee
CLASSIFIED100TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1 X-MEN
MARVEL COMICS
(W) Jen Van (A/CA) In-Hyuk Lee
CLASSIFIED100TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1 AVENGERS
MARVEL COMICS
(W/A/CA) James Stokoe
CLASSIFIED100TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1 FANTASTIC FOUR
MARVEL COMICS
(W) James Stokoe (A/CA) Joanna Estep
CLASSIFIEDSTORM #1
MARVEL COMICS
(W) Greg Pak (A/CA) Victor Ibanez
CLASSIFIEDDEADPOOL VS X-FORCE #1 (OF 4)
MARVEL COMICS
(W) Duane Swierczynski (A) Pepe Larraz (CA) Shane Davis
CLASSIFIEDDEADPOOL DRACULAS GAUNTLET #1 (OF 7)
MARVEL COMICS
(W) Gerry Duggan, Brian Posehn (A/CA) Reilly Brown
CLASSIFIED
What the heck are these? “Dracula’s Gauntlet” is obviously the digital “Deadpool” comic, but what are the rest of these? “Fantastic Four” and “Avengers” by James Stokoe? A new Storm book by Greg Pak and Victor Ibanez? There are all clearly contemporary comments looking at some kind of anniversary, and perhaps even two new ongoings (“Star Lord” and “Storm”), but man, what kind of solicitation is this?
I imagine Marvel is planning to announce all of these at C2E2 or something, but this is odd. It seems a bit poor-form to just drop solicits like this without any weight to them. I get the idea of building intrigue and whatnot, but since we’ve already pointed out Marvel’s cattiness in solicits to retailers, I can’t imagine this type of thing really builds a lot of favor.
But, well, sites like this one will certainly cover the announcements and buzz for these titles as they’re announced properly, so Marvel wins.
