Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Marvel's May previews reviewed

Everyone knows the drill, by this point, right...?


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #39
BRIAN REED (w) • LEE GARBETT (a/C)
• Spider-Man is stuck in a world where Peter Parker never existed!
• And reality is coming apart!
• Guest staring the Avengers!
48 PGS./Rated T …$3.99


More pages than the ASM one-shot below and the two bi-monthly issues of ASM solicited for May,for the exact same price! Is this a great value, or are all the other ASM comics incredibly poor values?


AMAZING SPIDER-MAN: ENDS OF THE EARTH #1
DAN SLOTT, BRIAN CLEVENGER AND ROB WILLIAMS (W) • THONY SILAS (A)
Cover by SEBASTAIN FIUMARA
• From one “Ends of the Earth” to the other, Spider-Man isn’t the only hero fighting free the globe from Doctor Octopus’s treacherous tentacles in this extra sized story!
• And the dying doctor has some wicked worldly associates of his own.
• Guest staring: Big Hero Six and Union Jack
32 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T …$3.99


I hope Spidey fares better against the Secret Six then whoever it is that's writing these solicitations this month is faring against the English language.


Avx: Vs #2 (of 6)
KIERON GILLEN/STEVE MCNIVEN(w) • SALVADOR LARROCA/STEVE MCNIVEN(a)
Cover by SALVADOR LARROCA
Fight Poster Variant by STEVE MCNIVEN
• The premier tie-in to AVENGERS vs. X-MEN!
• SPIDER-MAN vs. COLOSSUS
• CAPTAIN AMERICA vs. GAMBIT
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99 (EACH)


Those…don’t sound like very fair fights, do they? I mean, I guess Spidey can maybe take Colossus if he stays out of arm’s length, but I can’t see a way for Gambit to not have his ass kicked by Captain America. Try turning his shield pink and explodey, Remy! Maybe that’ll work…?


AVENGERS #26
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (w) • WALT SIMONSON (a/c)
• AVX TIE-IN!
• One of the Avengers must betray the team to fill their destiny with the Phoenix.
• A game-changer for the Avengers franchise...and it is not who you think!
• Comics legend Walt Simonson is back!!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99


You mean fulfill, right?


AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #3
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (w) • MARK BAGLEY (a/C)
• Avengers versus the Zodiac! But who is behind the Zodiac?
• PLUS! The reappearance of a team of characters you’ve been clamoring for!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99


The original Defenders? The Champions? The Headmen?

What’s up with the hammer in Hulk’s right hand? It looks like its handle has been inserted straight through the middle of his hand, rather than being held in his hand. I guess it’s probably a coloring mistake…?


DAREDEVIL #12
MARK WAID (w) • CHRIS SAMNEE (a)
Cover by PAOLO RIVERA
• It’s lawyers in love as Matt Murdock finally makes some time for assistant district attorney Kirsten McDuffie.
• The best reviewed comic of the year continues as Waid and Rivera welcome aboard new artist Chris Samnee (Ultimate Spider-Man).
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99



Actor Ryan Reynolds played Deadpool in 2009 film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Ryan Reynolds played a guy buried alive in 2010 film Buried. And Dave Johnson draws Deadpool buried alive on the cover of Deadpool #54.

Coincidence?!

Say, Waid and Samnee could present a totally hardcore pornographic sex scene in this book, with full-frontal male and female nudity, even penetration shots, and as long as they do it all in “Daredevil vision,” it could still be totally PG, huh?


HULK #51 & 52
JEFF PARKER (w) • CARLO PAGULAYAN (a)
• General Ross is being haunted by ghosts from his past… but WHOSE ghosts are they?
• Red Hulk wants answers, but so do… RAIZO KODO and THE FORGIVEN?!?!
• Does salvation lie in the hands of the LEGION OF MONSTERS?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$2.99 (EACH)


One of these days I really have to sit down and figure out what order to read what collections in to catch up with Parker’s Red Hulk comics…


HULK SMASH AVENGERS #1 (OF 5)
TOM DEFALCO (w) • RON FRENZ (a)
Cover by LEE WEEKS • A five-part, weekly punch-fest that explores the ever-evolving relationship between the Gamma Goliath and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes!
• Hulk vs. the 60’s-era Avengers: Captain America, Iron Man, Giant-Man, Wasp and Thor!
32 PGS./Rated T …$2.99




HULK SMASH AVENGERS #5 (OF 5)
FRED VAN LENTE (w) • MICHAEL AVON OEMING (a)
Cover by LEE WEEKS
• Red Hulk vs. the 2000s-era Mighty Avengers…Black Widow, Wonder Man, Ares, Sentry and the Wasp!
32 PGS./Rated T …$2.99


Weekly? $2.99? Okay, I’m in—don’t let me down , guys!


MARVEL ZOMBIES Destroy! 1 & 2 (of 5)
FRANK MARRAFFINO (w) • MIRCO PIERFEDERICI (a)
Cover by MICHAEL DEL MUNDO • At long last! The BEST-SELLING Marvel Zombies franchise returns!
• A.R.M.O.R. is called upon to rescue a reality where the Nazis won WWII… with ZOMBIES!
• Howard the Duck brings in Nazi-fighter extraordinaire DUM DUM DUGAN and a squadron of fighters known as Ducky’s Dozen!
• SERIOUSLY, YOU GUYS! NAZI ZOMBIES!
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99 (EACH)


The problem with zombie comics is so many people are making them that almost any twist you can think of has already been done. See how excited they are about that last bullet point, for example?

Let’s see what’s showing up in comics shops tomorrow….Oh, look!
NOV110695 NAZI ZOMBIES #1 $3.99

(That said, I totally have a high-concept zombie mash-up idea that would be very popular that no one’s used yet, but I don’t’ know what to do with it, as I don’t have any interest in drawing zombies, and it would take me like 10 years to draw an action/adventure/horror comic anyway)

Nice covers by Michael Del Mundo!


SECRET AVENGERS #27
RICK REMENDER (w) • RENATO GUEDES (A)
Cover by ALAN DAVIS
• AVX TIE-IN!
• Captain Marvel reborn to unite all Kree!
• Captain Marvel, The Protector and Ms. Marvel vs The Avengers!
• Who is Minister Marvel and why has he drawn the Phoenix to the Kree homeworld?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99


Captain Marvel reborn, huh? As a great man once said, “Fool me once, shame on…shame on you. Fool me…you can’t get fooled again!”


I’m pretty sure Kaare Andrews is trying to make me throw-up with his Ultimate Comics covers…


Say, I think Doom looks pretty good in white. That’s the cover for X-Men #29, by Will Conrad, by the way.


You just don’t see much hair-pulling in superheroine fights these days, so good on artist Mark Brooks, I guess.

7 comments:

LurkerWithout said...

I kind of am interested in seeing Howard the Duck vs. Zombies w/ Dirty Dozen thing. But I can only find two previous books by Marraffino, the last MZ tie-in, which was..average really. And the Vertigo "Haunted Tank" mini which I didn't care for at all...

Aki Alaraatikka said...

"Say, Waid and Samnee could present a totally hardcore pornographic sex scene in this book, with full-frontal male and female nudity, even penetration shots, and as long as they do it all in “Daredevil vision,” it could still be totally PG, huh?"

I don`t think that it would be PG-13, really. They would simply be human figures with lines all over their bodies.

JohnF said...

Ron Frenz will always let you down. It's what he does.

How do you figure Spider-Man can beat Colossus? Even without the Juggernaut upgrade (UGH), Spidey can't hurt Colossus or contain him with webbing. What does that leave? And you can't bring up the time he beat up Firelord, because THAT NEVER HAPPENED.

Is there any real reason Gambit couldn't turn Cap's shield into one of his 'splodey things? I mean, other than that Marvel would never let that happen? God, I hate Gambit.

Caleb said...

How do you figure Spider-Man can beat Colossus? Even without the Juggernaut upgrade (UGH), Spidey can't hurt Colossus or contain him with webbing. What does that leave? And you can't bring up the time he beat up Firelord, because THAT NEVER HAPPENED

I don't know what Juggernaut's hat does exactly, other than make him look dumb, but I was thinking that while Colossus is so much stronger than Spidey, Spidey could, like, outmaneuver him, running up and down walls and flipping around and stuff. And he could use his webs from far enough away that Colossus couldn't grab him...of course, I guess Collossus could just throw heavy objects at him...?

I think it will ultimately come down to Spidey being Spider-Man, though, and more popular/prominent.

...didn't Spidey fight Juggernaut in some famous-ish issue once? And win, I assume...?

Is there any real reason Gambit couldn't turn Cap's shield into one of his 'splodey things?

I dunno...does Gambit's pink energizing powers work on admantium and vibranium...? (I don't know much about his powers...or the properties of Marvel metals...)

JohnF said...

If it's a popularity contest, then of course Spidey wins. The only person in the world who likes Colossus is me.
There's no logical reason Gambit's dopey power wouldn't work on Cap's shield, but they'd never let that happen. They'd trot out some "the molecular bonds are too rigid" nonsense or something like that.

Bella's owner said...

Kitty Pryde likes him too, right?

Jacob T. Levy said...

Spidey beat Juggernaut by luring him through a patch of wet cement that Juggernaut sank into. Otherwise, he was getting his red-and-blue behind kicked all over the place. He didn't stop him or wear him down or hurt him in the slightest.

I'd say that Spidey might have an outside chance of beating Colossunaut in some clever way-- though is Colossunaut stronger than Cain Marko, in anything like the ratio that Colossus is stronger than a normal human? If so, I'd say Spidey's only real chance would be that Piotr held back for fear of killing Peter instantly.

But Thing vs. Colossunaut seems like an easy call for Piotr. I think of Thing and Colossus as being pretty comparably strong to start with; add in Cytorrak, and remember that Thing is basically just a slugger, and it seems like no contest.