CBR has the full list for all your cover & blurb requirements. Let’s get stuck in, shall we?

JMS gets hold of another long-standing title in the Marvel universe, starting with Fantastic Four #527, which might have fans who’ve read his Spider-Man a little worried, but it gives me the excuse to not spend all my money on comics by stopping after the excellent run by Mark Waid & Mike Wieringo.

Marvel Nemesis: The Imperfects. Marvel & EA, working together? Shudder. I point you towards this strip at Ctrl+Alt+Del for views on EA.

Marvel Next – what is it with Marvel and their need to put their name in front of innocuous words in order to give themselves some bizarre buzz speak for a section of comics? The cover for Machine Teen #1 is a James Jean topper, but I really don’t think the world needs a Machine Man revamp.

Marvel Hardcover – what about Marvel At That F%£+ing Price? Maximum Fantastic Four sounds like a very interesting idea, with a lot of thought and effort put in, suggesting that they’re going for a coffee table dissection of the first issue, so why embarrass it with such a silly and geeky name? Are they only going for the hardcore audience? Surely a less ‘Ultimate’-sounding title might have been more appropriate?

Going through the Marvel solicits, I realise I don’t get as many as I thought I do, which makes me feel a little better going through this. I look forward to The Ultimates, with its sweeeet Bryan Hitch art, even though Mark Millar seems to be going out of his way to become an annoying twat (the end of Wanted, the end of The Chosen, killing Northstar, talking a load of bollocks online), but this is probably because I’m someone who didn’t grow up with The Avengers, so I enjoy his stories, even if the trial of the Hulk has been done before. Similarly, I didn’t get into The Defenders, so I have no preconceptions going into Ultimates #6, where they show up in Ultimate-form for the first time.

Apologies for skimming over the Spidey section but I simply don’t have much interest in him, which I realise might throw into doubt my status as a comic fan in some circles. The relentless buggering up of his life (money problems, Aunt May and her heart, J. Jonah Jameson making him out as a villain, etc.) for the sake of keeping him miserable about being Spider-Man seems quite vicious at times, and doesn’t give me the buzz I seek in my four-colour fix. I know I don’t get it when it comes to Peter Parker, but that’s just the way I am (so, sorry, Greg, but I won’t be owning the various Comics You Should Own titles you’ve listed so far).

Marvel Knights – after all the gorgeous Alex Maleev covers for Daredevil so far, why are the Decalogue (Bendis & Maleev’s swansong on the title) covers so ugly?

I still can’t see the point of Marvel Milestones: Wolverine, X-Men and Tuk the Cave Boy. However, it makes me feel young because I’ve never heard of Tuk the Cave Boy, but also old because The Uncanny X-Men #201 was the first X-Men comic I ever purchased (a double purchase along with New Mutants #35), ensuring it of a special place in my heart and which started me on the strange, but wonderful, path that has led to writing a blog about comics.

It’s always nice to see Bill Sienkiewicz drawing Daredevil (on Daredevil: Redemption #5) but doesn’t it seem a little as if he just knocked it out on a wet afternoon?

Oooh, a blacked-out character on the front of Wolverine #28, so mysterious, what could the mystery possibzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Sorry, fell asleep there. Where was I?

The blurb for GLA #2 is the best of the bunch, so I’m just going to include here for my own enjoyment:

With the life-expectancy of hamsters, and an ever-thinning lineup, the GLA is in desperate need of new blood. But what self-respecting super-type would sign up for THIS!? Guest stars galore, including Brother Voodoo, El Aguila, and Captain Ultra. Plus Spider-Man, Wolverine, Daredevil, and all the other spotlight-hogs you can’t get enough of! Oh, and don’t forget, in this issue ANOTHER GLAer DIES! Well… besides Mr. Immortal.

Pulse #9 sees Michael Lark bring his stylings to Bendis’ slow crossover with his even slower Secret War series, for which I am grateful, as Brent Anderson’s work didn’t look very good in the last issue I read, but it will have to be good to make up for the state the story is in at the moment.

New Avengers #7 sees the start of a three-part look at the Sentry. I still don’t get why Bendis has brought him into the fold, as Paul Jenkins’ creation wasn’t exactly riddled with exciting possibilities, and he’s losing the ‘try anything’ card some writers get from me, but I’m curious to see what he does. Call that a ‘definite maybe’.

Power Pack, even though it’s a limited series, and looks like it’s aimed at the younger audience, still can’t wait to get the Fantastic Four as guest stars in issue #3. While they are appropriate to the book, if you’ve read the previous series, which I’m not ashamed to say I have, as it’s wonderful stuff (and still have the books in my collection, bar the non-Simonson- or Bogdanove-written ones, and I’m still waiting to actually see Power Pack #27, let alone buy it), it still seems to smack of desperation. Or I could be channelling my cynicism here.

Public Notice: Buy Runaways! One of the best things by Marvel at the moment. Great writing and art. Buy it! We now return you normal service.

Marvel Must Haves: NYX #1–3: when they say ‘Reprinting the sold-out NYX #1–3’, do they mean, ‘Reprinting the issues no-one can remember being printed because they were so long ago.’? And then the cheeky ‘Look for MARVEL MUST HAVES: NYX #4–5 next month – and NYX # 6 in July!’ seems hopelessly optimistic …

A grand total of 18 X-Men-related comics for me to safely ignore (even if Alan Davis is doing some beautiful work over in Uncanny X-Men) and waiting for the trade on Astonishing X-Men means I have nothing to say about all them, which must be a crime in the blogosphere.

Garth Ennis has been keeping to the ‘write 6 issues in a story line’ edict that has been handed down over at Marvel for the Max Punisher, so I’m waiting on trades for them. However, the one shot, The Cell, looks interesting enough to tempt me away from my economically sensible policy.

Powers #11 ‘presents the most important moment in the life of Detective Deena Pilgrim – a truly shocking POWERS event!’ This usually doesn’t mean anything in normal comics, but Powers has the leeway to do whatever Bendis & Oeming cook up, so it has a lot to live up to, especially as I thought they were going to bump her off in the first arc of the Icon-housed series.

More TPBs than you can shake an electronic Hulk Fist at, which is good to see, but I’m tired now, so I’m going to put this one to bed now. Insert pithy comment here that would sum up the post for me, thanks.