Let us take a gander at Marvel’s November solicitations:
Marvel confuses me: apparently Microman and Mantor the Magician are ‘Marvel Milestones’ whereas Spider-Man & The Black Cat #1–3 are ‘Marvel Must Haves’. Are they for real, or do they just like alliteration? Reading on Kevin Smith’s blog about how he continually blew off Joe Quesada, a man he calls a friend, for the script was rather depressing and doesn’t fill me with enthusiasm concerning how it ends.
What Marvel is good at is having nice covers for comics I’m not buying, such as the groove-a-delic Black Panther cover by Gary Frank, or the Ultimate X-Men cover, apparently by Stuart Immonen, or the latest Drax the Destroyer by Mitch Breitweiser. Of course, there are some that don’t work so well, such as Ultimate Fantastic Four, which seems to be a still from a bizarre pop duet video, or Daredevil: Father, which makes it look like Matt Murdock is having a painful rectal prolapse (are there any other kind?).
Of note for this month, Ed Brubaker writes a Doom mini-series; I haven’t read his Captain America because I just don’t ‘get’ the character but it looks like he might have a home at Marvel. Also, there is the Fantastic Four: The Wedding Special by Karl Kesel and Drew Johnson – you’ve got to feel sorry for Drew, when his interior work has to match up to the Gene Ha cover. A curiosity comes in the form of Marvel Team-Up #14, in which Kirkman’s creator-owned Invincible jumps into the Marvel universe. Having recently discovered the joys of Invincible, I’m tempted, especially with Cory Walker on art duties.
The big push goes to Captain Universe, a Marvel concept from before my time, with a slightly goofy costume and concept – the Uni-Power? Oh dear. Still, at least the Daniel Acuna covers are quite striking; is he doing any interior work yet?
Dan Slott, having worked his magic on She-Hulk, seems a perfect fit for writing a new ongoing Thing series, although I’ve never understood why he got his own series in the first place. Surely the whole point of the Fantastic Four was that they are a family, which sort of implies a joint unit. Not that I’m cynical or anything but we’ll see how long this lasts …
NEW Excalibur? Are Marvel just trying to keep Claremont happy or something? I can’t see the point otherwise, and the team seems to be a strange mix – why have Juggernaut and Dazzler based in the UK? Are they Anglophiles? And, being a Londoner, I find the cover quite insulting, as the group poses on Westminster Bridge in front of the Clock Tower containing Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. I hate the generic shots of these landmarks as a shortcut for London and can’t understand why they would be standing in the middle of a bridge for no reason. Is there a super-villain tourist taking too many pictures? Or is there a super-villain black marketeer selling pirate DVDs? (Which you are more likely to come across on Westminster Bridge these days …)
For better news in the X-world this month, X-Factor is back! With Guido! By Peter David! And Ryan Sook on artwork! I’m looking forward to this, as PAD’s short tenure on the book back in the mists of time was a highlight of the series. Also, Brubaker (gosh, he’s a busy man) brings us X-Men: Deadly Genesis with Trevor Hairsine, which looks like it might be interesting, if the strangely-worded description of ‘mysterious blend of horror and super-heroics’ is to be believed.
That’s the last of the comic blogger’s obligatory solicitations posts for another month, which means I’ll have to think of something new to blog about next …
