More pretty pictures. This time from Invincible Iron Man, Tony Stark’s second title. It’s a great time to be a goateed gazillionaire inventor. Written by Matt Fraction with art by Salvador Larocca issue 7 (released on November 5) has Iron Man teaming up with Peter Parker AKA Spider-Man. Two cinematic heroes in one book. Cool.
Marvel’s 5 issue Ultimatum mini-series is released on November 5, and is a cross-over event, with repercussions affecting the entire Ultimate universe. Marvel think you should read it. Here’s why.
Mags sure looks comfortable doesn’t he?
After the hero-centric teaser image, we now have a villain-centric piece. It is accompanied only with the text, “Are You Ready To Villain Up?” It seems obvious now that these two images are to promote Marvel’s kid friendly cartoon, or comic, or both, probably to go along with Hasbro’s kidified Super Hero Squad toys. For now, gaze at the cutesiness of Juggernaut, Doctor Doom and the little limbed/ big headed awesomeness of the always fun M.O.D.O.K.
Marvel have a recent history of releasing teaser images and letting fans scratch their heads. The latest one was to promote their Noir series which re-imagines Spider-Man, the X-Men and Daredevil in a typical old school noir setting, and will be released in December. The image below, released yesterday seems more obvious. Marvel are getting in on DC’s game and getting kiddy and cutesy. All we know is that apart from the familiar characters such as Hulk, Spidey and Wolvie, there’s also some new Lobster Boy type creation. The tag-line is, “Are You Ready To Hero Up?” I think I am.
It seems everyone’s getting in on the act. Batman, Hulk and Wolverine are all fathers now, though the two Bruce’s (Wayne and Banner) sons seem to be estranged from their pops. Wolverine may not be a great father, but at least he’s able to bond with his kid. Well, Daken isn’t a kid anymore, though he certainly resembles his dad. Daken is the son of Wolvie and his one-time wife, Itsu. As is traditional with superhero’s lovers, she died. Raised in Japan, Daken grew up, learnt who his father was and came to blame him for his mother’s death. Thanks to the events of the last issue Wolverine now has the opportunity to start from scratch with his son, as Daken reawakens in a cave with amnesia.
Wolverine is a character that I’m always sceptical of. Like Venom and The Punisher, he seemed to suffer from overuse at one point, with more series, one-shots and cross-overs than he deserved. That seems even more true now. However, Marvel aren’t stupid. They know that he’s the most popular X-Man, and they also know that when his solo film premieres next year, this similarly titled series will hopefully ride its coat tails to a greater audience.
This is the first issue I’ve read of this series and it was a pleasant surprise. There’s enough action and cool moments here for long-time fans who’ve followed James Howlett’s illustrious career, or for those who just like him simply because of his bad attitude and cool costume. Primarily the story consists of flashbacks, including his final battle with Sabretooth, his brutal days in Canada’s Department H, and a lengthy look back at the Incredible Hulk # 180 fight with Jade Jaws himself, and Wendigo. Fans know this to be Wolvie’s first appearance although his costume is slightly different here, ie, no whiskers. His first meeting with Professor X is also an unexpected one, which is to be continued in X-Men: Original Sin #1.
Daniel Way has a firm understanding of the character and doesn’t rely on what others have done by making the clawed one almost a caricature. Way brings out Wolverine’s physical weakness, especially when fighting Hulk, and his emotional ones, all helped by suitably foreboding art. I haven’t looked at Mike Deodato’s interior work in a long time, but I was a fan of his glory days in the 1990s when he helped introduced Artemis in the pages of Wonder Woman. His pages were impressive then. They’re very impressive now. With a greater sense of realism than I’ve ever seen him use and a dynamism in page design, his figures are natural and moody, helped in no small part by him inking his own pencils. The Canadian mutant’s fight with Hulk is a thing of raw power. It’s the only time I’ve ever felt sorry for Wolvie.
Bordering on the need for a mature readers warning, there is plenty of vicious brawling in this issue, which makes sense considering this is effectively a series of lengthy flashbacks to Wolverine’s killing days prior to him joining the X-Men, and is a period in his life which hopefully still has some room left for further exploration.
As for Daken, well, hopefully he’ll become more than a novelty in Way’s hands and with Deodato along this book just may entice more ex-X-lovers to return to the fold.
Below is the awesome Clint Langley cover, and a few wordless interior pages from the new 5 ish mini-series devoted to former Ghost Rider, Danny Ketch. Written by Simon Spurrier (Silver Surfer) and pencilled by Javier Saltares (Iron Man), the first issue goes on sale on October 22 and explores the expanding mythos of the Spirit of Vengeance.
Black Panther’s wife, and X-Men member Storm is at the centre of a new 4 ish mini-series from writer Christopher Yost (New X-Men) and penciller Diogenes Neves. The mini focuses on a puzzling murder in Storm’s new homeland of Wakanda, and Ororoa Monroe’s identity as Queen, godess and superhero. Below is the cover by J. Scott Campbell and a few random pages. The first issue hits the stands on October 15.
Here’s a text-free look at the double-sized series that just won’t die, Amazing Spider-Girl. Written by Tom DeFalco with art by Ron Frenz, the series focusing on Spidey’s future daughter, Mayday Parker is a fan fave. In this anniversary ish, Mayday must rescue her middle-aged father from the clutches of Fury, the Goblin Queen. The back-up stories centre on a trip to the past involving Peter Parker’s classic foe, Kaine, with art by Todd Nauck and a story drawn by Coleen Coover all about Peter’s other kid in Li’l Benjy: The Spectacular Spider-Baby. The issue goes on sale on October 8. For now, enjoy the pics.
Below is a just a sample of great looking covers from comics available this week, including Secret Invasion #6, Secret Invasion: X-Men #2 and Deadpool #1 from Marvel, Wonder Woman #24, Green Arrow/Black Canary #12 and Final Crisis: Revelations #2 from DC, and finally, Image’s Pax Romana #3. That’ll keep your eye balls occupied for a while.
Courtesy of Marvel, here’s the box art for Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, the open world game hitting all next-gen consoles – sometime soon. It’s a darker game than most Marvel adaptations and features guest stars galore, including Luke Cage, Black Cat and Nightcrawler, and as you can see below, Venom and Wolverine.
Below are a few random pages from the one-shot Skaar: Son of Hulk Presents: Savage World of Sakaar. Now, that’s a title! It’s on sale on September 24 and is presented by the original Planet Hulk creative crew, namely writer Greg Pak and artist Carlo Pagulayan, with Timothy Green, Gabriel Hardman and Tim Truman. The ish delves into Skaar’s origins, and is all held together by a gnarly Ron Garney cover.
Here’s a look at some snazzy artwork from Marvel. First up is a text-free gander at the cover and the first 3 pages of Mighty Avengers #18, a look back at the disappearance of the eye-patch wearer himself, Nick Fury, as he begins training his Secret Warriors for the Skrull Invasion. This tie-in to the colossal Secret Invasion storyline is written by Brian Michael Bendis, with art by Stefan Caselli, with a cover by Marko Djurdjevic. Mighty Avengers #18 goes on sale on September 17.
Secondly, there’;s the cover of Amazing Spider-Man #569, the second part of the New Ways To Die storyline, and the first appearance of the Anti-Venom. It’s written by Dan Slott and pencilled by John Romita Jr. The Adi Granov villain close-up is the variant cover and is on sale now.
Over at the always informative MySpace ComicBooks (become their friend! They’re lonely and in desperate need of companionship) you can check out a free issue of The Luna Bros’ new series, The Sword, and check out the trailer for novelist/comics scribe (Identity Crisis) Brad Meltzer’s new book, The Book of Lies. Lies is an intriguing tale, which weaves humanity’s first murder, (when Cain killed his brother Abel in the Old Testament) with the little-known story of Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel’s father’s unsolved murder.
Marvel head honcho, Joe Quesada also continues answering fans burning questions about Spider-Man’s New Ways to Die story arc, and the new DVD toon, Next Avengers, which centres on the kids of Captain America and his fellow Avengers teaming up with an ageing Hulk and Tony Stark (Iron Man) to take down the future Ultron.
A good starting point, though it may be too kiddie for hardcore Marvel zombies.
If you’re a fan of bold crime fighters, without super powers (well, sort of) then Daredevil may just be the hero for you. Forget the bad Ben Affleck film, Ed Brubaker has carefully woven an intricate, violent crime saga in blind lawyer Matt Murdock’s title these last few years. Ol’ Hornhead has certainly had an eventful life and you can read all about it in The Daredevil Saga, a handy recap of his recent events, right here. A great jumping on point for curious readers, or catch up to past readers, it’s an insightful look at DD’s busy life, as well as offering a sneak peek at Daredevil #111, the debut of Lady Bullseye.
Known as the Golden Guardian of Good, he has the power of a million exploding suns. (That’s a lot of suns.) The Sentry is an interesting character. Created by writer Paul Jenkins and artist Jae Lee in 2000, Marvel touted the character as a forgotten creation from way back in the dawn of Marvel, and only recently discovered in a drawer somewhere. It was all later declared to be a prank, but now the character exists in the pages of The New Avengers as shy, mysterious and way too powerful.
You can now read his adventures in The Age of Sentry by Jeff Parker & Paul Tobin, with art by Nick Dragott & Ramon Rosanos. Yeah, I’ve never heard of them either, but this series, done in the retro style of the classic Silver Age may be some good old fashioned fun. You can find out yourself by reading the first issue for free, right here, on Marvel’s new Digital Comics Unlimited extravaganza. You can buy the paper version on September 17.
With Iron Man occupied in the Savage Land , the Skrulls may think they’ve eliminated their armored opposition, but War Machine (ie, Tony Star’ks mate, James Rhodes) is out to prove them wrong in this must-read Secret Invasion tie-in! Iron Man: Director S.H.I.E.L.D #33, from acclaimed Thunderbolts writer Christos Gage and fan favorite artist Sean Chen (Nova), kicks off “War Machine: Weapon on S.H.I.E.L.D,” which redefines War Machine’s place in the Marvel Universe as a result of Secret Invasion…and setting the stage of his upcoming ongoing series! A major new chapter in Tony and Rhodey’s history begins right here!
The ish goes on sale September 17. A preview art of the first four interior pages below, and the cover by Adi Granov, courtesy of the fine folks at Marvel.
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