The Rough Guide To All New, All Different Marvel

Fall is upon us but while Secret Wars and it’s many tie in’s sit in delay purgatory for the time being, Marvel is once again relaunching it’s superhero line with a whole bunch of #1 issues for their comics. With that said, the publisher is moving from a different position than they were in with Marvel Now & All New Marvel Now. With the former, Marvel had a lot of young creative talent that they were able to re-position during the relaunch to give their line a fresh make over and give creators they had brought up on  their lower tier titles a higher profile like Jonathan Hickman, Jerome  Opena, Esad Ribic, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Jason Aaron or Rick Remender. After Marvel Now was a success, they added several new talents into their fold by building off the success of the original relaunch, giving creators like Ales Kot, Tradd Moore, Michael Walsh, Felipe Smith or Michel Fiffe their first shot at a major comics launch with the publisher. Now, much of the talent from both those initiatives has moved on from the publisher. In their place, Marvel has new creators coming on from all sorts of different mediums in addition to some of their old standby’s like Brian Michael Bendis, Mark Waid or Greg Land, and they are publishing a lot of comics. Probably too many. Below is a list of all the announced new series categorized into grouping of Yay, Mayhaps or Nah like we did with Secret Wars. Keep in mind that I won’t be including series that are basically the same creative talent and that Marvel will surely have more books to announce in the months ahead.

Yay:

The Infinity Entity by Jim Starlin & Alan Davis

This is almost too perfect to the point I’m worried it’s going to disappoint based on expectations alone. Jim Starlin has been on a roll since coming back to Marvel last year with his Infinity series of OGN’s and the Thanos vs Hulk series. His writing of Warlock isn’t just the best take on the character but after forty some years, it’s still the only take that’s mattered. Alan Davis continues to be one of Marvel’s greatest illustrators and the prospect of him doing high concept space opera is almost too perfect. This is the must buy of the entire relaunch.

Karnak by Warren Ellis & Geraldo Zaffino

The last series Warren Ellis did for Marvel was one of the best comics of the year. As a book about an Inhuman that can look at anything and break it apart by seeing the flaw in it’s design, the character as a concept was made for Warren Ellis.  I don’t know anything about Zaffino but trust that if Ellis is working with him, he should be solid.

 

Moon Knight by Jeff Lemire, Greg Smallwood & Jordie Bellaire

Here, we get the best part’s of the post Warren Ellis Moon Knight creative teams on the title with the addition of writer Jeff Lemire, who is peaking creatively right now. Putting the character in a mental hospital has a high probability of being stupid but if I trust anybody to do that premise right, it’s these guys. Probably the highest ceiling of all the new announcements so far

 

Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates & Brian Stelfreeze

This is completely unprecedented, Ta-Nehisi Coates is the leading thought leader on race in the United States of America at the current moment, he is one of the most important minds we have in journalism and now he is writing a fucking Black Panther ongoing series for twelve issues. This is a man that just won the MacArthur Fellowship Genius Grant and he is going to be writing a year long comic about a coup de ta in Wakanda. This is insane and I don’t understand how it’s happening but it is and that’s absolutely wonderful. Also , Stelfreeze is an incredible talent. Ta-Nehisi Coates is writing a Black Panther comic, the world is nuts but sometimes it’s also really fucking cool

Dr Strange by Jason Aaron & Chis Bachalo

Chris Bachalo was always Jason Aaron’s best collaborator on Wolverine & The X-Men when that series was at it’s peak and now he’s rejoining the writer at the height of his career. Aaron is the best writer in comics for the year of 2015, everything he’s done has been aces. From Southern Bastards to Star Wars to Thor to Weird World; the guy has been the most consistent and entertaining creator in the medium while Bachalo’s wild expressive style has fit perfectly with those sensibilities when they’ve worked together in the past. Also, Dr Strange has a big ass ax. Could be Marvel’s most Metal book since Aaron launched Thor with Ribic.

Black Widow by Mark Waid, Chris Samnee & Matt Wilson

Fuck yeah……..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Man Logan by Jeff Lemire & Andrea Sorrentino

For the entirety of their time on the title, Green Arrow was one of the best superhero comics when Lemire & Sorrentino were collaborating with one another. If either of these guys do a comic, it’s worth checking out. When working together, it’s essential.

 

Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D by Frank Barbiere & Brent Schoonover

Writer Frank Barbiere has been great so far in his Marvel work, even though it’s been tethered to what Jonathan Hickman was writing in Avengers. Now, not only does he get his own series where the direction is completely his to determine, but he get’s to use a bunch of characters nobody cares about anyway, meaning he should be able to do whatever he wants. When Barbiere does whatever he wants, you get comics like Broken World, Five Ghosts, The White Suits & Black Market. On art, Schoonover is an illustrator that has consistently been making noise for the last few years and brings a visual style that is both highly creative but also clean enough to work with the book’s overall concept

Illuminati by Joshua Williamson & Shawn Crystal

Joshua WIlliamson is another comics writer that has been steadily rising and plotting  a book about a group of super villains should allow him to do his own thing outside of the larger Marvel continuity. Williamson’s modus operandi is writing morally questionable protagonist so the premise seems like a natural fit. Artist Shawn Crystal is coming off being the highlight of a short lived Batman comic so I think he’ll be able to handle this

The Vision by Tom King & Gabriel H Walta

Tom King is the best new writer in comics right now and his Omega Men was so good that fan reaction on twitter made DC Comics uncancel the series. Anything he writes is worth checking for at this point while Gabriel H Walta was doing some brutally lovely and detailed work on Magneto that made for one of Marvel’s most distinctively original ongoings. The All New, All Different dark horse

Patsy Walker aka Hellcat by Kate Leth & Britney L Williams

Series writer Kate Leth has been doing hilariously insightful comics work on both small press books and her Kate or Die series at Comics Alliance. If the idea here is to do a sort of spiritual sequel to She-Hulk, then she is the right person for the job. Britney L Williams I’m less familiar with but if her illustrations of Daily Planet character’s are any indication, she should do just fine

 

Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur by Amy Reeder, Brandon Montclare & Natacha Bustos 

Amy Reeder & Brandon Montclare are well established from Image’s Rocket Girl, which is the type of comics work that should transfer over well to this series based on the initial impression. Natacha Bustos is a new comer but her illustrations are absolutely adorable. Devil Dinosaur fucking rules and I wish he was in everything but I’ll take one ongoing series at this point

 

Guardians Of Infinity by Dan Abnett & Carlos Barberri

I will never not, at least, try a cosmic Marvel book by Dan Abnett as he’s shown again & again that he’s a genius with the concept. By mixing Guardians team’s from multiple timelines, this looks like it could be his craziest series yet. Carlos Barberi is consistently solid and it’s about time they gave him a writer worthy of his talents.

 

Extraordinary X-Men by Jeff Lemire & Humberto Ramos

It’s been a while, but we finally have an X-Men book worth reading

 

 

 

 

 

Mayhaps

All New All Different Avengers by Mark Waid, Mahmud Asrar & Adam Kubert

As great as Mark Waid has been on Daredevil for the last few years, his other comics writing has been pretty spotty overall. The last time he did a team book was JLA way back in the late 90’s which was solid, although came out a long time ago and is a totally different concept then what he’s doing here. It’s hard to know what to make of this book; after the sprawling epic that Hickman has done on his Avengers & almost a decade of Brian Michael Bendis on the books preceding that, it’s hard to come up with what, if anything, there is left to do with the Avengers at this point. But as the flagship intellectual property at Marvel, there is no way they won’t have an Avengers comic. To it’s credit, the series has a radically unique lineup to what we’ve seen on past Avengers books both in the traditional sense or even as of late when they’ve been much more liberal with the membership. Curiosity in itself makes this worth checking out but I’m slightly skeptical if it will be any good or compelling on it’s own merits. Mahmud Asrar and Adam Kubert are perfectly fine as artists for the book and not much else.

Invincible Iron Man by Brian Michael Bendis & David Marquez

It’s been over three years since Marvel put out an Iron Man comic worth reading and even by that point, Fraction & Larocca’s work on the book had become stagnate. For all the writers faults, the personality of Tony Starks as Iron Man does fit really well with Brian Michael Bendis’s sensibilities. The question here is, will he be able to create a plot for the series that actually goes somewhere instead of spinning it’s wheels like the last few Marvel books he’s done. David Marquez is an amazing comics illustrator and the whole futurist tech idea should be natural to his strengths. At minimum this comic will look great and it will probably be pretty entertaining out the gate but it’s long term success as a story is questionable

Daredevil by Charles Soule & Ron Garney

Writer Charles Soule comes back to the lawyerin superhero’s with Daredevil, though judging by the promo material, this will probably be in a different tone from She-Hulk. Taking on the character after such an iconic run from Waid & Samnee is going to be difficult, especially as it appears to be a shift back towards the more traditional urban gothic aesthetic of the series past. I don’t know if I’ve seen Soule do that type of comic so it’s impossible to know what to expect here. After Ron Garney struggled on Men Of Wrath to get the aesthetic right for it’s genre, it’s good to see him go back to the superhero comics that he’s a natural for. Whatever book he’s on, he’s always been able to adapt his style to it’s thematic approach and I expect that to be the case here

Sam Wilson Captain America by Nick Spencer & Daniel Acuna

For as great as Nick Spencer’s Superior Foes of Spiderman & Ant-Man have been, it’s worth noting that he still hasn’t made it work on a non-comedy focused book with Marvel. He’ll get a pretty good lead this time around as he’s taking over a Captain America comic that was more controversial then it was liked from previous writer Rick Remender. The Sam Wilson as Captain America premise has a lot of potential that Remender didn’t really have the chance to fully explore in his six issues. That leave’s plenty of opportunity for Spencer if he’s up to the task. Artist Daniel Acuna is amazing and will make this worth checking out for his visual narrative alone. It has a high ceiling but juries out on if it’s realized

Totally Awesome Hulk by Greg Pak & Frank Cho

Writer Greg Pak has proven to be one of the all time great Hulk creators and has a knack for writing meatheads in general. Though his Action Comics run has been consistently great, the rest of Pak’s work as of late has been all over the place. By replacing Bruce Banner with his Amadeus Cho creation, he’s opened up a lot of new stories for him to tell with the character, so I suspect the writing will be pretty interesting at minimum. The hope is, that he can consistently bring something engaging to the series over time after the novelty of a new Hulk goes away. Artist Frank Cho is great on a technical level, but is a pervy asshole that uses the term “social justice warrior”  without irony. Based on Pak’s own politics, I don’t understand what these guys have in common besides sharing the same ethnicity in an industry full of white bro’s but I suppose each one is talented enough do something worthwhile here

Spidey by Robbie Thompson & Nick Bradshaw

I fail to understand the necessity of another Spiderman related comic in what is an already crowded group of titles, especially one focused on a teenage Spiderman when the Miles & Spider-Gwen book are already doing the same thing. That said, anybody that’s a comics fan probably has some nostalgia for teenage Peter Parker so it fills a void in the marketplace, even if it’s undercutting two of Marvel’s other series. Robbie Thompson’s work on Silk seem’s to be liked well enough and Bradshaw is a great match on art for the intended tone. Not bad in a vacuum but also feels like it’s overkill

New Avengers by Al Ewing & Gerardo Sandoval

Following up on a story line from Hickman’s time on Avengers, Ewing & Sandoval get a bunch of fan favorite character’s together for something AIM related….. I guess….. maybe? In a lot of ways, this feels like Young Avengers again with the cast and style. Unfortunately, just based on the sheer volume of comics Marvel is releasing during this initiative, I have a hard time seeing this having any staying power for the long haul. The actual title “New Avengers” has been meaningless ever since Siege so in a sense, I get using it as backdoor way to do Young Avengers but I’d be shocked if it get’s the results they are going for

Weird World by Sam Humphries & Mike Del Mundo

Sam Humphries has been fun on his Secret Wars tie-ins & Mike Del Mundo may be Marvel’s best artist, but there is no way Jason Aaron leaving the title isn’t a downgrade. Still worth reading for the art alone and this is the type of Marvel comic you’d want to see Sam Humphries on, but no matter how you slice it, losing Aaron is a detriment

 

All New Inhumans by Charles Soule, James Asmus & Stefano Caselli

Yet another attempt by Marvel to make us care about the Inhumans, this will be the second ongoing series on the characters from Charles Soule in addition to his Uncanny Inhumans, which is now replacing his Inhuman ongoing. Whether any of this leads to meaningful comics worth reading is yet to be seen. Joining Soule will be writer James Asmus whose done fantastically hilarious and insightful writing on Quantum & Woody after striking out on his last go round at Marvel with a Gambit solo book. The hope here is that Asmus can bring a similar vibe to Inhumans that he had on his Valiant work which if you think about it, because of their inherent goofiness, could actually work really well on the characters here. Stefano Caselli is good enough to not take anything away from this story which is it’s own kind of skill. He’ll never sell the book but he won’t ruin it either

Scarlet Witch by James Robinson

As soon as Scarlet Witch was announced as being a character in the Avengers sequel film, her ongoing series was inevitable. Unfortunately, Scarlet Witch as a comics character has way too much baggage in her continuity to ever have the comics version translate into something resembling what’s on film. The hope is that Robinson can look past all that and do something with the character that doesn’t play up her tragic elements or make her a victim and considering it’s a one and done artist format per issue, that seems entirely possible. Scarlet Witch is really cool in theory, she’s a mutant (don’t care what they are currently saying) who uses magic, but she rarely works in practice as the compulsion from most creators is too make her a martyr of her own strength. If this series goes in a different direction, they may have something here

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D by Marc Guggenheim & Mike Norton

Head writer for beloved DC TV series Arrow takes over for Mark Waid on the spin off comic for Marvel’s  not beloved TV series Agents of S.H.I.E.l.D. Guggenheim has been solid on the Squadron Sinister Secret Wars tie-in and Mike Norton is always fun though his major comics work never seems to match the heights he get’s to on Battlepug. Still, it’s hard to look past the apathy fans seem to have for this concept in general. I wonder if part of the reason that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D doesn’t really work as a TV show is the same reason it might not work as a comic, that being it doesn’t really have a purpose within the larger context of the Marvel Universe. When S.H.E.I.D books were Nick Fury centric comics in the past, it made sense because the character had such a rich history within the context within the time of his creation, the Marvel Universe and in the classic comics he was the center of from the likes of Jim Steranko or Jack Kirby all the way up to Garth Ennis or Jonathan Hickman and even then, those books weren’t exactly flying off the shelve’s. For better or worst, the classic Nick Fury is out of the picture now and for as charming as his replacement Agent Coulson is, I’m not sure that I’m interested in following him on monthly at $4 a pop. Marvel already has too many superhero team comics and there is really nothing of consequence to justify this books existence

Hercules by Dan Abnett & Luke Ross

This is a perfectly fine creative team for the book but with all the bi-erasure controversy surrounding the comic paired to the general lack of interest in the character, I don’t see this going anywhere of significance. The premise seems kind of fun, especially paired with illustrator Luke Ross’s pulpy style; but there are other Abnett comics that will be worth reading before this one

Starbrand & Nightmask by Greg Weisman & Dominik Stranton

Writer Greg Weisman has done a good enough job writing Kanan The Last Padawan to make this not a total write off. How he does on an in continuity superhero comic and what Dominik Stanton is capable of as a comics illustrator are completely unknown at this point.

 

 

The Ultimates by Al Ewing & Keneth Rocafoft

For whatever reason, Al Ewing has been branded by Marvel as the writer of their black superhero team comics in spite of the fact that for one, he’s a white guy from England and two, those books have never been all that successful in terms of sales or critical love. Kenneth Rocafort is an awesome artist and the prospect of him drawing Glacticus is pretty exciting. Also, Ms America is back which is nice, yet not being written by Kieron Gillen or drawn by Jamie McKelvie kind of takes the air out of that

Mockingbird by Chelsea Cain

I did not read writer Chelsea Cain’s Mockingbird one shot so I have no idea what to expect out of this book. I would ask why Marvel doesn’t have one of the many talented female comics creators write the book instead of taking a novelist from outside the medium but really we all know the answer; experienced female comics creators know how to negotiate a page rate, will not stand for comics fuckery and will speak out about the garbage going on internally. So when you are wondering why say, Alex DeCampi, Becky Cloonen, Spike Troutman, Mariko Tamaki, Emily Caroll or Kelly Thompson isn’t writing this book in place of a writer that’s only written one comic in her lifetime, that’s most likely your answer. This isn’t to take anything away from Chelsea Cain either, she’s more then accomplished in her own right as a New York Times best selling novelist but the key word there is novelist, not comics writer or cartoonist. And before you come at me, this is not the same as Ta-Nehishi Coates who is one, a vocal Marvel Comics reader and two, at the top of his profession. Again, I don’t mean to be disrespectful to Cain because she is a more accomplished writer then 99.9% of the population and that is certainly because of her skills and talents but Coates is the most important writer on race in America at a time when race in America is a huge deal and though Cain is many things, she isn’t that. No artist has been announced on the title meaning what’s probably going to be the most important element of the series is unknown.

Nah

Red Wolf by Nathan Edmondson, Dalibar Talajic & Jeffery Veregge

So first and foremost let me cop to being the guy that said Edmondson was the most consistent Marvel writer in 2014 last December. Looking back on that, it’s a bit embarrassing. Setting aside the allegations of Edmondson’s abusive behavior and homophobia, the way he portrayed Mexican people in The Punisher and his inclusion of  the cop killing the gang member as an allusion to Michael Brown was pretty fucking gross for me at the time and ultimately led me to drop the book deep into his run as the low key bigotry ruined an otherwise well done comic. So now Edmondson is going to do an entire book about not just a person of color, but a person of color that belongs to one of the most oppressed groups in American history. This being from a guy that seems to be leaning right politically, and that observation comes without even examining his past working for a conservative think tank. And again, if your politics are right wing, good for you. Clearly they aren’t mine but I have plenty of friends and family that lean towards those ideologies and for the most part, I don’t think any less of them. But when were talking about a comic based around a Native American character, I find it hard to see how those views won’t be problematic on some level, if for no other reason, then in terms of representation and perspective. Historically and up to the present day, Native politics and identity have rarely jived with American conservatism, often they are in opposition of each other.

Even looking past all that, this is a Native American character that is being completely divorced from actual Native American people. He isn’t a part of any known tribe as he comes from another reality different from both our own and the Marvel universe this takes place in which renders any type of context of his peoples oppression listless. Part of the implication in having a Native American superhero, is introducing what that means on a broader scale of the United States Of America in the fictional Marvel universe related to our own world. This isn’t unprecedented, there are several Batman stories that have explored Native American culture and it’s complicated history in the United States of America as a whole within the context of the DC universe. But by having him come from a reality that is different from not just the readers but everything else in the actual story, the comic won’t have to hold anybody of consequence accountable for Red Wolf and his people’s oppression. Not only is that erasing what is a very crucial element of American history, it actually takes away a lot of potential story. How does Captain America reconcile his beliefs in altruistic Rosevelt era modern liberalism when confronted with the reality of Native American oppression? How does Tony Starks silicon valley neo-Randyian hyper-capitalism hold up in the face of the extreme poverty that many of Red Wolfs people have been forced into out of centuries of American capitalism and government walking in lock step over the human rights of it’s indigenous people? That’s interesting and even though I kind of doubt that Edmondson would have been the guy to explore those ideas anyway, it’s a potential element that’s been at best, crippled for arbitrary reasons.

Side note: How funny would it be if Brian Wood replaced Edmondson on this book, who while probably being far more capable of exploring the political ramifications of the story, has even worst baggage than Edmondson.

Artist Dalibar Talajic is perfectly average, but considering they are basically introducing a whole new character for all intents and purposes, average isn’t going to cut mustard. Ms. Marvel has Adrian Alphona, Weird World has Mike Del Mundo, shit even FalCap had Stuart Immonen. Nobody is buying a comic because Dalibar Talajic is drawing it. As for cover artist and “consultant” Jeffery Veregge, I really hope this book leads to opportunities for the creator to tell his own stories at Marvel or otherwise. As of now, his inclusion seems like a way for the publisher to be like “see guys, representation!!!!” after taking so much heat online for their lack of it in the original All New, All Different announcements. There has to be a reason it’s consultant and not co-writer and it’s probably not a satisfying one

All New Wolverine by Tom Taylor & David Lopez

Just because Marvel can hire disgruntled DC writers to work on their comics doesn’t mean they always have to. Tom Taylor is the most New 52 creator in the industry; his writing is completely devoid of subtlety, his work is all bombast with little substance behind it, his character’s feels like they’re from the first draft of a Michael Bay script and anytime you take a minute to consider the story on a whole, it’s dumber then a box of rocks. Mark my words, this is going to be a comic that is 90% X-23 just slaughtering people aimlessly and with reckless abandon. Poor David Lopez who has to go from spending the last two years drawing space opera with some of comics most talented and thoughtful writers in Kelly Sue DeConnick, Warren Ellis & Kelly Thompson, to this. This series will only be good for the Bengal covers and you don’t need to pay for that. You can look at them in the store or just download them to your desktop off the internet

Uncanny X-Men by Cullen Bunn & Greg Land

Because Greg Land has to go somewhere. Cullen Bunn is going from seeing these magnificently detailed and imaginative spreads by Walta for Magneto to a bunch of stiff looking characters with shit eating grins that were possibly traced off a porno screen capture. Also, this whole idea that “Land sells books” has to be a complete fiction in 2015. Sure, he might have sold books when you put him on an X-Men comic at a time when anybody could sell those books, but it’s not like his work on Iron Man, Mighty Avengers, Spider-Woman or Future Imperfect was lighting the sales charts on fire. I’m pretty sure you could have put literally anybody else on those comics to illustrate and they would have done just as well. In an era where Greg Capullo, Fiona Staples, Esad Ribic, Stuart Immonen and Jock dominate the sales charts, nobody is checking for Greg Land. His style is the antithesis of what’s popular right now and we are all the better for it.

Uncanny Avengers by Gerry Duggan & Ryan Stegman

Why does this title still exist? It’s concept is contingent on a Marvel event that is over two years old and should be irrelevant after Secret Wars & Axis.  Even when it was being written by one of Marvel’s best writers in Rick Remender paired with artist like Daniel Acuna, Steve McNiven & Oliver Copiel, the book still lost steam due to attrition for a premise that doesn’t hold up. There is no reason for this series to continue, especially after it’s chief writer left the title. But, as seems to be the solution for all Marvel books, when in doubt, just add Gerry Duggan and/or Deadpool. I have to say, I admire the brevity here in just going balls out in adding both simultaneously, usually it’s one or the other but here, you get two for the price of one. Picture if Marvel did this when Duggan had to take over books like Hulk or Nova, just throw Deadpool in there and cash those checks. Think of all the variant covers they could have had like Deadpool flying is space in a Nova suit or Deadpool turning into the Hulk or Deadpool killing Nova or Deadpool killing Hulk or Deadpool killing Cosmo or Gwenpool killing Adam Warlock or Deadpool and Gwenpool kissing Thanos or Deadpool riding a zombie Namor like a Dolphin; the possibilities are endless.  Ryan Stegman continues to be Marvel’s best artist getting stuck on their worst books. I realize that his aesthetic probably doesn’t fit Hickman or something but damn yo, can a dude fill in for something Aaron wrote at least once? Shit give the poor guy an Al Ewing script at least

Captain Marvel by Tara Butters, Michelle Fazekas & Kris Anka

1. For all intents and purposes, Kelly Sue DeConnick is the creator of this Captain Marvel iteration. She completely redefined the character with her unique voice and writing style. Without her, it’s not the same book.

2. If you are going to replace DeConnick on the comic as Marvel was basically forced to do after the writer chose to leave the series, there’s a perfectly respectable choice in Kelly Thompson, the comics writer that helped co-write DeConnick’s final five issues, that co-created one of the best comics of 2015, that helped make a Jem & The Holograms series successful and unique in spite of it being Jem & The Hologram and who has been writing one of the most insightful comics columns for years. If she were to replace DeConnick on Captain Marvel, her pedigree would be more then enough to make it worth checking out

3. Instead, Marvel has turned over the book to the show-runners for their Agent Carter television, who while being very accomplished in their own right have never actually written an ongoing comic before. Marvel is taking what’s been one of their most important series of the last five years and letting two people that have never actually worked in comics take over the series from the writer that made the series important in the first place. How is any of this a good idea?

4. Kris Anka, sure, whatever

All New X-Men by Dennis Hopeless & Marc Bagley

The frustration that fans have had with Marvel not reaching out to any diverse voices at least partially comes out of how certain writers seem to keep leveling up despite any actual success to merit said promotion. Dennis Hopeless seems like a good dude that’s written comics with serious fan bases, but your talking about taking over one of the most successful X-Men books of the decade. What past accomplishments makes Hopeless qualified to carry on that success? Was Avengers Arena/Undercover really that good? (cue Dean’s rebuttal) Also the whole 1960’s X-Men in the modern day was a cheap gimmick from jump street but Brian Michael Bendis is all about using cheap gimmicks as springboard to write Aaron Sorking superhero fan fiction. We’re just going to keep this going apros of nothing in particular? Why not bring them back to the 1960’s ala X-Men 92? What am I missing here? Finally, why does Marc Bagley get a pass over all these other 90’s artists? Liefeld created two of the most important characters in Marvel history and he’s a running punch line but Bagley gives Uncle Ben a ponytail and nobody remembers this

Squadron Supreme by James Robinson & Leonard Kirk

IT’S JUST THE JUSTICE LEAGUE THIS IS SO UNNECESSARY. Squadron Supreme exists so 1960’s Marvel comics writers could punch upwards at DC Comics when they were the young upstarts. It wore out it’s welcome decades ago. DC Comics is currently publishing three separate Justice League comics and one of them is actually good. We don’t need another one, especially by a writer who already wrote a Justice League comic that nobody liked.  Marc Grunweld & Al Williamson’s twelve issue mini series from the 1980’s is the last and only Squadron Supreme story that had any sense of purpose and even that was rendered obsolete the minute that Watchmen came out

Blade The Hunter by Tim Seeley & Logan Faeber

Blade could be so cool, it’s such a radical concept and would be like nothing else at Marvel. Based on Hack/Slash, I can understand the compulsion to have Tim Seely write this but come on guys, Ron Wimberly made whatever version this is going to be obsolete almost a year ago on some throw away art. You really couldn’t get him to do the book? Oh wait…. That’s the problem, Marvel want’s you to think it’s so progressive by making Blade a female but it’s still being created by a bunch of white dudes. I really don’t see the progress of diversifying a fictional universe if it isn’t practiced in reality

Contest of Champions by Al Ewing & Paco Medina

Why?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nova by Sean Ryan &  Cory Smith

Because when I think of Nova, I want the guy who writes a mediocre Suicide Squad series to tell that story. Dustin Weaver’s Infinity Gauntlet is one of the best Marvel books of 2015, why isn’t he involved in this?

 

 

Drax by CM Punk, Cullen Bunn & Scott Hepburn

If you are going to disregard the hundreds of capable and inventive up and coming comics creators in spite of that being the clear foundation of your success as a publisher for the last five years, you might as well give it to an ex-pro wrestler. Does Cullen Bunn ever say no to anything? I think the number of titles he’s working on this year puts Charles Soule 2013/2014 run to shame. Where is the Gamora book we were promised a year ago? In spite of my complaints about comics creators getting shut out of the relaunch, Guardians Of The Galaxy screen writer Nicole Perlman seems infinitely more qualified to write a comic book then an ex pro wrestler with a Pepsi tattoo on the side of his arm

Black Knight by Frank Tieri & Luca Pizzari

This series is going to be over before it even get’s started. Here’s hoping Pizzari get’s a better title next time around because that dude can draw

 

 

 

 

Venom Space Knight by Robbie Thompson & Ariel Olivetti

Can we please just ease off Venom for a little while? Rick Remender was occasionally brilliant with him on his solo series but ever since then, he’s been an accessory. I guess if you are going to give it another shot, there are worst ideas then putting him in space. Granted, taking him off world seems to negate a lot of what made the Flash Thompson version of the character interesting. He’s no longer struggling with his own demons of alcoholism, PTSD or his poor upbringing. I’m also not sure what it means to be physically impaired if you always have a symbiote suit on in order to breathe in outer space. In all reality, the Flash Thompson Venom should have ended with Rick Remender’s final issue, it was a near perfect conclusion to that story. They aren’t ever reaching that peak again unless Warren Ellis goes all Moon Knight on the property and considering Ellis’s choices for his last two Marvel series, that doesn’t seem at all likely

Carnage by Gerry Conway & Mike Perkins

There is no getting around the fact that Gerry Conway is one of the most important creators in the history of Spiderman comics but that dude is not the comics writer he once was and we need a Carnage comic even less then we need a Venom series. Go scour the back issue bins for Zeb Wells & Clayton Crain’s two Carnage miniseries because those are fantastic. In issue #1 of Carnage USA, there is some of the funniest Spiderman writing I’ve ever read. The issue literally starts with Captain America walking in on Spiderman putting an apple on Wolverine’s head for Hawkeye to shoot and there is a recurring gag with The Thing and his catchphrases that is pure gold. Those should be 1/4 of the price of these single issues and most likely, those opening pages alone will be more entertaining

Spiderman vs Deadpool by Joe Kelly & Ed McGuiness

Seriously enough already

 

 

 

 

Deadpool & Cable Split Second by Fabian Nicieza & Reilly Brown

PLEASE MAKE IT STOP

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gwenpool by Gerry Duggan, Charles Soule, Christopher Hastings, Anilo Beyruth, Langdon Foss and Gurihiru

I give up.

So cool of Marvel, jacking up the price on Howard The Duck for this garbage back up story, especially when they’ve had back up comics in all the previous issues at the standard price of $3.99. Also you know, backups by the series writer that readers would actually want to read because it has some contextual relation to the comic at hand instead of being a cheap cash in on variant cover. Like there wasn’t enough Deadpool related comics already