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All posts for the month May, 2015

Avengers Volume Four Issue 28

Posted by John Klein III on May 31, 2015
Posted in: Review, Websites. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Avengers V4 28

Writer Brian Michael Bendis

Pencils Walt Simonson

Inks Scott Hanna

Colors Jason Keith

Letters VC’s Cory Petit

Cover Dated September 2012

According to this website :

http://www.comicbookherald.com/the-complete-marvel-reading-order-guide/guide-part-16-avengers-vs-x-men/

This issue comes during the fallout of Issue 6 of AvX.

Avengers vs. X-Men #6

Avengers vs. X-Men: Versus #4

Avengers #28

Uncanny X-Men #15

Wolverine & The X-Men #12

Avengers #29

I own this for the Magik appearances.

Inside front cover ad is for the computer game, Super Hero Squad at HeroUp.com, which I tried but my computer at the time wasn’t strong enough for it.

This issue is all about Red Hulk.  Issue opens with him reflecting on Avengers vs X-Men and his role in it thus far.  He fought Juggerolossus and Iceman.  He recalls the last meeting Captain America held.  Red Hulk is really General Ross, of Hulk fame.  He picks up on a slight hint of air that Cap wants Red Hulk, Rulk, to take actions into his own hands.  Rulk plans to assassinate Cyclops.  Except that this is at the point of the event when Cyclops, Emma Frost, Magik, Namor and Colossus are the Phoenix Five.

Avengers V4 28 Magik mention

After doing some reconnaissance, he plans on attacking when Cyclops and Emma Frost are separated.

This is what he has to say about Magik – he hates magic.  He can’t fight random chaos.

Emma leaves and Rulk is on his way to Utopia.  I didn’t know he can transform back to General Ross.  He dons a traditional black assassin outfit.  Once on the island nation, he spies Magneto.  Good thing that his knife is made of bone and his gun is made of fiberglass.

He finds Cyclops and gets ready to make his sniper shot.  Before he can pull the trigger, he can’t.  Emma is back and his controlling his hand.  Emma comments that she is confused by Hulks never ask telepaths to just turn off their Hulk triggers.  General Ross tells her that it doesn’t work like that.  He Rulks out.

The Amazing Spider-Man film is coming out, as there are two pages of ads, in a row, for Spider-Man toothbrushes.

Avengers V4 28 Magik 1 Avengers V4 28 Magik 1b

Rulk attempts to attack Emma.  This alerts the rest of the mutants, including Magik.

Cyclops attacks Rulk with a fifth of the Phoenix Force.  Magneto follows up on the attack.

Avengers V4 28 Magik 1

Rulk does a good job of stating that Captain America isn’t knowledgeable in his decision to come to the island.  Not like that would matter to Cyclops.

Magneto wants to keep Red Hulk a prisoner but Emma knows they can’t hold him.  She also gives us his resume.  He has fought the Watcher (poor non-interfering Uatu!) and the Silver Surfer.

Magik gets a sword strike in!

Avengers V4 28 Magik 2

The X-Men wail on him some more.  Cyclops wants to send a message.

Wakanda.  Captain America and Iron Man are talking.  Black Panther is supervising.  There is a giant BOOM and the Avengers come running.

Issue ends with us seeing Rulk with a giant X on his chest.  I didn’t even know that Cyclops could leave burn marks as his optic blasts are not fire related.

There is an house ad that is promoting all of the titles that are set in New York City, which is weird as most of them do.  Spider-Man, Punisher, Daredevil, Hawkeye, Captain Marvel and Venom.

. . .

With this issue, we end Avengers Month!

Wolverines 4

Posted by John Klein III on May 30, 2015
Posted in: Review. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Wolverines 4

Writer Ray Fawkes

Art Ariela Kristantina

Colorist Sonia Oback

Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

I still need to get a copy of issue two and Shogun didn’t show in three but I’m sure we’ll get by okay.

Barcelona, Now . . . Fantomelle is a new character introduced last issue, she is a master thief.  She is being confronted by Siphon, the villain first seen in Logan Legacy 7.

Shogun, X23 and Skel are there for the assist.  Fantomelle has a mental connection to her fox, Culpepper – get it, because foxes are so cunning.  Skel tackles Siphon, he doesn’t have a healing factor, so he has nothing to lose.

For some reason, Kristantina has decided to not show Shogun’s head or upper chest.

Fantomelle escapes with her fox.  X23 gives chase, having to shout at her that they are not there to hurt her.

Shogun slices Siphon’s throat.

Mystique blasts Fantomelle with a type of stun gun, I believe.  Shogun starts cutting into Siphon.

The villains bag Fantomelle and her fox.  Mystique keeps calling for Shogun to stop fighting.  They put in a few more hits on Siphon and destroy the hospital or business building.

Fantomelle wakes up, the fox tells her that it has been hours.

Mr. Sinister’s Fortress.  The villains are hoping she can still back Wolverine’s statuesque body.  We cut to Daken, who thinks he should be dead as he is still missing his right eye and left arm.

Fantomelle runs into Neuro, who reveals the name of this place is, Changeling.  Which Mystique said that earlier in the issue but I didn’t know what she was referencing.

Sabretooth is talking to Lady Deathstrike, who apparently Mystique is setting up to die – which must be super awkward to know about.

Wolverines 4 Shogun 1

Shogun promises that if Fantomelle wants to leave, she can – she isn’t a prisoner.

X23 states what I was thinking, that Sabertooth is seen in two conversations at the same time.  I feel silly now, as it just dawn on me that one of them is clearly Mystique.  Probably the one harassing Lady Deathstrike.

Is Sinister in the same location as the villains?  Why show us a full page of Sinister’s fortress and follow that up with Fantomelle waking up?  Sinister should be breaching Wolverine’s adamantium shell within the hour.

Wolverines 4 Shogun 2

Neuro tells Fantomelle that the place they need her to break into is in Finland.  The fox recognizes how high tech the security is.  Shogun reveals that the place is known to be impossible.

X23 tells Daken that they ran into Siphon, he is annoyed as he wants his revenge on him.  I like the subplot of Sabretooth wanting to play cards with Daken.

Sinister is muttering to his lackeys that nothing is impossible or impenetrable, so he was told some bad news, I take it.

Mystique is crying and punches a mirror.  She gets a secret audio feed into the situation room.  There is a note on her mirror that looks like it states “Don’t Trust Sabretooth.  Skel must be cured by Sinister.”

Wolverines 4 Ogun 1

Took me until the third panel before I realize that it was Ogun speaking to Sharp.  Ogun views Skel, Junk and Endo as the most expendable members – and I would have to agree.

Fantomelle can tell that Shogun has two voices in his head.

Mister Sinister’s airspace is invaded and he instructs one of his lackeys to jump ahead three hours and continue with the project.  I don’t live that type of life.

Wolverines 4 Shogun 3

Issue ends with the villains, is there a better name for the group?  Wolverines / Weapon X Program rejects, seems too long and complicated.

Apparently Mister Sinister is set to bring Wolverine back to life, which I take it, the villains don’t know that is his ultimate goal.

Ed Sheeran – Photograph

Posted by John Klein III on May 29, 2015
Posted in: Fun With YouTube, Songs. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

With this video, I feel like I have to announce that I am a fan of Ed Sheeran.  Or at the very least, that I’m a fan of his hit songs.

Thanks again to Ed Sheeran for hosting his own video!

This is a very cute music video.  When he was younger and with the glasses, he looks like my nephew Hunter but with red hair.

Referring to Ed Sheeran songs, Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) showed up on Jimmy Fallon and performed a very fun song –

Thanks to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon for hosting the video!

I’m addicted to watching this and I doubt I will ever tire of it.

I’ve been a fan of Jeremy Renner since his ABC show, The Unusuals, which was a great comedy police show, with some real heart.  It is a shame that it only lasted ten episodes.

Referring to Renner’s Hawkeye, remember when we first saw him in Thor’s first film?

Thanks to tiliavengers16 for hosting this video!

It is editted (I imagine for length and to keep it mostly about Hawkeye) but this is by far my favorite scene of Thor’s first movie.  Most other scenes with Kat Dennings and Stellan Skarsgard will round out the rest of my top five scenes from the first film.  Especially when Thor and Dr. Erik Selvig are drunk after Thor’s failed attempt to lift Mjolnir.

Imagine how much better that film would have been (or how awesome that scene would have been) if he lifted the hammer and had that glorious reunion with his powers?  That would have been such a great moment!

 . . .

 Post 700!

Secret Wars 2015 – Giant Size Little Marvels : AvX Interview

Posted by John Klein III on May 28, 2015
Posted in: Websites. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

http://www.newsarama.com/24589-secret-wars-takes-the-little-marvels-to-new-heights-in-giant-size-little-marvels-avx.html

Newsarama has a fantastic interview with Skottie Young, writer and artist for Giant Size Little Marvels : AvX, which is a miniseries within Secret Wars 2015.

Giant Size Little Marvel AvX 1 Magik v Iron Man

It fills me with such joy to see Magik as a little kid and attacking Iron Man!  So happy she is involved in this series.

70th Anniversary Variants

Posted by John Klein III on May 27, 2015
Posted in: Covers. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

Marvel 70th Anniversary Frame Art

New Mutants V3 4 70th Anniversary Variant

To celebrate Timely’s 70th Anniversary, Marvel released variant covers in the same vein of their November 1986 Marvel 25th Anniversary covers.  These were released August 2009.

Timely being the company that will become Marvel, but it is still an odd thing to celebrate, as they should have waited five more years to do the 75th Anniversary, an anniversary people actually celebrate.d

Border done by Jim Cheung.   Unfortunately, Kitty didn’t make the border to this one, so she is only on the 25th Anniversary and the Women of Marvel variants.

I wish I owned any of these but I do own this :

Marvel 70th Anniversary Frame Art Collection, that contains all of the variants as single page art pieces, which I would buy more of these Variant Collections if they made them.

My wishlist contains :

New Mutants Volume Three Issue 4, with Magik

Wolverine First Class 18, with Kitty and Lockheed

That’s what happens when Kitty doesn’t make the border, my desire of them gets cut way down.

All New X-Men 35

Posted by John Klein III on May 26, 2015
Posted in: Lists, Review. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

All New X-Men 35

Writer Brian Michael Bendis

Artist Mahmud Asrar

Colorist Marte Gracia

Letterer VC’s Cory Petit

Cover Artists Sara Pichelli & Marte Gracia, I didn’t even notice Kitty was on the cover until my second read through.

It took three issues but we finally get confirmation that the broad in the white shirt is Ultimate Shadowcat, gone is the purple tint, so they must have got a lot of response to that.  Plus, she gets dialogue this issue, so that helps.

All New X-Men 35 Shadowcat 1a All New X-Men 35 Shadowcat 1b

Castle Doom.  Latveria.  Now.  The Two Icemen can’t believe how this day is going.

Spider-Man calls Rogue, Rock, as he honestly thought that was her name.  It must have made sense to him.  Angel compliments Ultimate Iceman, as he is great with his powers – which makes him realize that he isn’t his Iceman.  Ultimate Jean, I wish there was an easy way to distinguish the different pairs of the characters but I can’t think of one, gets hurt and Beast is concerned.  X23 and Spider-Man get back to back, he calls her, Lady Wolverine, and that will be the last time he tries that nickname.

All New Jean wants to get other Jean off the battlefield.  Spider-Man charges and jumps at Doctor Doom and he starts to blast Spider-Man out of the air.

Hours Before, Revenge style.  The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.  Closed.  The Cerebro Room.  Invented by the late Charles Xavier.  Detects Mutants All Over the World.  All New Jean has located her teammates and the Ultimate version of the lady mutant who sent them here in the first place.  Ultimate Jean offers to take her X-Men to locate the All New X-Men.

Latveria.  Doctor Doom reminds Beast, and us, that Beast is under his complete control.  Doctor Doom has a broken time cube and he wants Beast to make it into a dimensional portal.

Weapon X.  Hidden in the Canadian Wilderness.  X23 is slashing away at a defenseless tree.  She isn’t taking it well that humans created mutants in the Ultimate Universe.  Angel doesn’t like seeing her like this.  He calls James, little Wolverine.

All New X-Men 35 Shadowcat 0

It makes perfect sense to go for Angel and X23 first.  One, you get two mutants that way and two, X23 is always useful.  X23 isn’t happy about seeing two Jeans.  Everyone hints at how Ultimate Angel is dead.

All New X-Men 35 Shadowcat dialogue

Such a great page with Spider-Man and the sweet sweet confirmation that this is Ultimate Shadowcat.  I would imagine that Miles and Kitty would have more to say to each other but that probably explains why Spider-Man sat near her.

Angel recognizes Shadowcat as a young Kitty, she is happy about her older self being a teacher.

Angel notices Ultimate Iceman and he takes the opportunity to explain that his All New counterpart is in Atlanta.

Atlanta.  Bobby is trying to power up but even at night, it is hot.  The police locate him, it starts snowing and he ices up.  He meets Ultimate Storm, and I like how he doesn’t really know her as he barely spent any time with anyone who wasn’t from the 60s.

Beast is writing a timeline on a chalk board, I believe this is the third such timeline to appear in this title.  Doom is told that a plane has entered his airspace.  After revealing that the X-Men have a mutant tracking device, Cerebro, and Doom wants one now.

All New X-Men 35 Shadowcat 3

All New Iceman is upset that Ultimate Iceman isn’t engaging him enough.  He is used to his present day self talking to him frequently and even his even further in the future self, chatting with him.  Everyone is ashamed of All New Bobby.

Jean reaches out to Hank, he tells her how he is under Doom’s influence.  Ultimate Jean has the sad duty of explaining that Ultimate Doom’s real name is, Victor Van Damme, it was the media that gave him the much better name.  The Jeans are undoing the mind manipulation that Doom did to Beast.  Beast starts fighting Doom.

All New X-Men 35 Shadowcat 4

Doom gives the order to have all mutants killed.  I do like how now, Kitty clearly has brown hair and no purple tint, what was that about?  It lasted two issues.

Issue ends like how it started, Spider-Man about to jump at Doom and a giant explosion at the castle.

. . .

The Top 9 Comics of 2015!

  1. Legendary Star Lord 8
  2. Legendary Star Lord 7
  3. X-Force 14
  4. All New Ultimates 12
  5. Uncanny X-Men 30
  6. All New X-Men 35
  7. Weapon X Program 5
  8. Wolverines 1
  9. Amazing X-Men 15

Marvel 70th Anniversary Frame Art

Posted by John Klein III on May 25, 2015
Posted in: Review, Websites. Tagged: , , , , , . 1 Comment

Marvel 70th Anniversary Frame Art

Cover Dated 2009

I would buy these Variant Cover collections, nearly every time.  If you have a theme event, and it has at least 30 covers, might as well collect them.  I own this one and the Wolverine Art Appreciation collection.

To Celebrate Timely Comics 70th Anniversary, Marvel released Frame Art variants like they did for Marvel’s 25th anniversary and the Women of Marvel Variants.  I do wish that they were done as regular covers for the October 2009 issues.

There were 39 of these covers.  All but two are shown on the cover (both front and back).  I wish the frame art would have made part of the cover to this comic.

So the two characters that are not shown on the cover are Magik and X23.  Which is so odd to me as the cover sports three Wolverines and two Spider-Mans.

I just want to own two of these –

Marvel 70th New Mutants Magik Variant

New Mutants 4 with Magik by Elena Casagrande & Emily Warren

Marvel 70th Wolverine First Class Kitty Pryde Lockheed

Wolverine First Class 18 with Kitty and Lockheed  by Takeshi Miyazawa

The cool thing about the covers shown in this collection, is that it doesn’t have the issue numbers or the ISBN cluttering the art.  Another nice thing about the collection is that the covers are in alphabetical order of the comic title.  Not sure what the other way of doing it is but I like that they went with the order they did.

This site has all of the covers –

http://www.mylatestdistraction.com/?p=747

The other issues were –

Agents of Atlas 9
Amazing Spider-Man 601
Amazing Spider-Man 602
Amazing Spider-Man 603
Avengers : Initiative 27
Black Panther 7
Cable 17
Captain America : Reborn 2
Daredevil 500
Dark Avengers 8
Dark Wolverine 77
Deadpool 13
Deadpool : Merc with a Mouth 2
Exiles 5
Fantastic Four 570
Guardians of the Galaxy 17
Hulk 13
Incredible Hercules 133
Incredible Hulk 601
Invincible Iron Man 16
Mighty Avengers 28
Ms. Marvel 43
New Avengers 56
New Mutants 4
Nova 28
Punisher 8
Runaways 13
Secret Warriors 7
Son of Hulk 14
Thunderbolts 135
Uncanny X-Men 514
War Machine 9
Wolverine First Class 18
Wolverine Origins 39
Wolverine Weapon X 4
X-Factor 47
X-Force 18
X-Men Forever 5
X-Men Legacy 227

The Frame itself was designed by Jim Cheung

Only Storm and Invisible Woman are the only ones who are on all three Frames – 25th, Women and 70th, which is pretty impressive.

 

 

 

What If Volume Two Issue 1

Posted by John Klein III on May 24, 2015
Posted in: Review, Websites. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

What If V2 1

Script Roy Thomas

Breakdowns Ron Wilson

Finishes Mike Gustovich

Letters Heisler

Colors Tom Vincent

Cover Dated July 1989

What If the Avengers Had Lost the Evolutionary War?

Splintered from Avengers Annual 17

The Evolutionary War ran through several Annuals in 1987.

According to Wikipedia :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Evolutionary_War

The reading order for the event is :

The Evolutionary War

I only own the New Mutants Annual 4, Part Four, of the crossover.  I did own and read the Spider-Man Annuals before selling them.

It takes one page for Utau to set up the issue.  So here what was changed to make it possible.  High Evolutionary defeated Hercules instead of the other way around.  The Avengers escaped before they could defeat the High Evolutionary.  The Avengers being – The Lady Yellowjacket, Captain America (when he was The Captain), Falcon and Beast.  If Jocasta was able to destroy the Genetic Bomb, instead of the base.  So the one thing they were suppose to do, stop the Genetic Bomb from going off, did not happen.

The issue officially opens with Captain America coming to the surface after the Quinjet crashed into the water.  He had helped, as his old WWII ally and fellow Avenger, Namor, brings him to the surface.  The other three Avengers, are dead.  Oh Beast, you will be quasi-missed.  The remnants of the Genetic Bomb scatter around them.

Within hours, the world is bathed in the particles.  People start panicking.

This was during the Australian Outback era of the X-Men, as Wolverine asks Gateway to gather the X-Men.

High Evolutionary, watching the news, is glad to see his hard work is now paying off.

The West Coats Avengers – Mantis, Wonder Man (the Colossus of the Avengers), Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and the Vision, are standing outside, watching the dust – and quietly bathing in them.  When the dust lands on a human, it sticks to them but it goes right through non living things, like the Vision.

The X-Men – Wolverine, Colossus (in the same panel with his Avenger counterpart), Storm, Dazzler, Longshot, Rogue and Psylocke – appear in front of the West Coast Avengers.  Hawkeye is surprised, as the world believes them dead.  Namor and Captain America appear before these gathered heroes.

Wolverine suspects Namor is behind this, which seems silly.  Namor calls Wolverine a mutant, which seems racist and silly as he himself is a mutant.

While they are all chatting, Mantis points at Wolverine.  His claws have grown from a foot to four feet.  Which seems odd, as those are metal and not part of his actual body or powers.  All the mutants start becoming enhanced.  Colossus is permanently in his human form.  Rogue has the powers of all the gathered heroes, and she got them just by being in their presence.  Psylocke can hear all of their thoughts.  Scarlet Witch’s hex powers have increased.  Longshot’s luck powers have doubled.  The mutants also look like they have bulked up.  Namor has grown stronger.

The humans have started noticing that mutants have benefited from the dust.  The humans, on the other hand, their heads have become giant, like Egg Head or the Leader’s own head.  They have giant heads and have lost the hair on the top of their heads.  Even the human members of the Avengers are getting big heads.  Aliens like Mantis, also gets a big head.  Captain America and Hawkeye’s head increase so much that they burst through their masks.

Wolverine is quick to get enraged, as he expects the humans’ next move is to blame mutants.  The gathered humans have no interest in that, they can see mutants for what they are, the next step in evolution.

We look around the world and see that humans are all getting big heads.  With their giant heads, comes peace of mind and a sense of unity.

Iron Man can’t wear his armor anymore but he has no interest in it.  The need for violence is no more.  Spider-Man, who was artificially mutated as a teenager, has gained three more pairs of arms.  The Thing has become even more rocky and with spiky rocks.  The Hulk has Banner’s mind but gets to keep his hair on his head.

Daredevil doesn’t get a big head but all of his senses have been enhanced, so he has to go into the wilderness and get away from the noise.

X-Factor, minus Beast, are walking the streets like they never could before.  It seems like humans have become mindful but at the same time, have lost their individuality while the mutants have gained additional powers but kept their main personalities.

X-Factor is heading towards a building.  Doctor Doom stands before them, He just wants to wish them well, as he takes of his faceplate.  He has no scars but his head is huge.  The human minds are slowly becoming linked together.

What If V2 1 Shadowcat

The mutants and the mutated heroes have gathered to determined what is next.  Shadowcat is in the meeting, so that’s pretty cool.  Why she is up in the air, is beyond me.  I guess she is air walking.

Captain America asks the heroes, who are now like gods, to do right for Earth and the Universe, then leaves.  Even the villains feel the need to do good, as they no longer need money and power.

Everyone turns to Wolverine for leadership.  Everyone, even the humans, shout “It is Time!”

Dormammu, Mephisto and Nightmare, pick the worst time to attack Earth.  Doctor Strange, Talisman and Doctor Druid rise up to defeat them.  Their mystic know how combined with the minds of the human race, shuts down the invasion so quickly.  All six individuals disappear for all time.

Captain America and Punisher try to lead the humans.  The human race keeps evolving each day.

The mutants are going to leave the planet.

Thor, who is unaffected and High Evolutionary see the mutants and other super beings fly off to space – on their own, no spaceships are needed.  High Evolutionary came to lead the humans but they don’t need guidance.  Thor is a god so he isn’t needed on the planet.

The Inhumans, who were living on the Moon at the time, follow the mutants into space.  I’m not sure how they were given the ability to fly in space, unassisted.

The Eternals join the combined heroes’ energy.

Various alien races don’t like the idea of Earth heroes in space and have created a fleet to knock them out of space.  The mutants don’t want to hurt the aliens but they will not fly away from the threat and makes short work of the aliens.

Moments in space turns out to be really years on Earth.  We see that Captain America has been buried.  The mutants seem to be immortal but not the humans.  Daredevil comes out of hiding, he still doesn’t have a big head.  For some reason, Daredevil hasn’t aged as he cut out all sensory input – which I didn’t know is what causes us to age.  He is so beyond the five normal senses that he can now communicate with his mind.

Daredevil will try to teach his fellow humans to live like he does.  Vision, standing next to Hawkeye’s tombstone, asks if he can join Daredevil.  He doesn’t have a human mind, so he needs Daredevil to talk aloud.

High Evolutionary is still waiting for the right time to take leadership of humans.

Decades pass.  The mutants are looking for Galactus.  Nova, his herald, stands before the mutants.  They kill her, which angers Silver Surfer.  They take him out and Galactus shows up.  He tries to absorb the mutants’ energies but they slay him.

On Earth, it seems the human race is all white.  They also have gotten rid of all buildings.  They can fly but choose not too.  Daredevil is dead.  Vision is alone to walk the Earth, he turns himself off.

The mutants come up against Death and Eternity.  They absorb Death, and now take on Eternity.

Earth is about to be attacked by the Celestials, they deem to destroy the planet.

The mutants take on Eternity and further merge with it.  They are tempted to come to Earth but decide to keep going forward.

The humans, whose heads look like they are about to crack open, destroys one of the Celestials.  The other three go away.  The humans merge and become one with the planet.

Somehow, High Evolutionary is in space.  He thinks he is equal to the new Eternity but they squash that thought.  They let him live, as he fathered this future.  Eternity creates a new universe.  The new Entity splits into Death and Eternity for this new universe.  The mutants are no more, they are in one or the other now.

So in classic What If fashion, the human race is no more.

There are some fun house ads in the back.  Atlantis Attacks, the crossover in the 1998 annuals.  Doctor Strange is getting a new ongoing, as if Moon Knight.

Inside back cover is an ad for some Atari games – Tetris, Pac-Man and Gauntlet are three of them.  I’ve heard of RBI Baseball (mostly from the Uncanny X-Cast) but I haven’t played it before.

Marvel August 2015 Solicitations

Posted by John Klein III on May 23, 2015
Posted in: Solicitations. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

http://www.newsarama.com/24559-marvel-comics-full-august-2015-solicitations.html

 

SECRET WARS #6 (OF 8)
JONATHAN HICKMAN (w) • ESAD RIBIC (a)
Cover by ALEX ROSS
THE FINAL WAR!
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

            I own issue one but not issue two, so we knows how anticipated I will be for this issue.  We know Doom has to lose so that the heroes can reshape the new Marvel Earth, right?

SILVER SURFER #15
DAN SLOTT (w) • MICHAEL ALLRED (a/C)
“Day One”
• Does one Norrin Radd have to die for another Silver Surfer to live?
• In the space outside of time and the time outside of space, beings of great cosmic power battle for the final shape of the next reality!
• This may be the “Last Days” of The Silver Surfer…
•…but it also might be the FIRST Day of an All-New Marvel Universe!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

            Could Marvel really be placing the building blocks in Silver Surfer? That would be nice for Slott, and he is a big name at Marvel – but four months in advance, something tells me it is doubtful.

MAGNETO #21  
CULLEN BUNN (w)
PAUL DAVIDSON (a)
Cover by DAVID YARDIN
• With the Earth on the verge of destruction, the Master of Magnetism is determined to be mutantkind’s savior once more…
• But at what cost?
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99

As the last “X-Title” that is being featured in the Last Days, I wish this was more star studded!

 SECRET WARS: SECRET LOVE #1
MICHEL FIFFE, FELIPE SMITH, MARGUERITE BENNETT, JEREMY WHITLEY, KATIE COOK & MORE! (w)
MICHEL FIFFE, FELIPE SMITH, KRIS ANKA, GURIHIRU, KATIE COOK & MORE! (a)
Cover by DAVID NAKAYAMA
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
• WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE, CAN THEIR LOVE SURVIVE?
• ROBBIE REYES/KAMALA KHAN!
• TYPHOID MARY/KAREN PAGE/MATT MURDOCK!
• AND MANY MORE SECRET LOVE AFFAIRS…
40 PGS./ONE SHOT/Parental Guidance …$4.99
*SECRET WARS SERIES

This could be a very fun series! I’m hoping Kitty Pryde and Quill can get some attention in it!

 MASTER OF KUNG FU #4 (of 4)
WILLIAM HADEN JR. BLACKMAN (w)
DALIBOR TALAJIC (a)
Cover by FRANCESCO FRANCAVILLA
THE KUNG FU SAGA CONCLUDES!
• Shang-Chi continues battling through the Thirteen Chambers to face his father, the immortal Emperor Zu!
• But first, he must defeat his rivals, Rand-K’ai, Great Master of the Iron Fist, and Red Sai, deadly leader of the Red Hand!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

I’m fine with Marvel changing Shang-Chi’s father’s name from Fu Manchu to Zu, I see what they are going for there and the copyright issue, and all. Lockheed and Kitty were in the first issue so here is hoping they are in all three! I’m glad they are finally putting the “of __” number in the title. Most of these have end dates, so let’s not pretend like we don’t know them. Either four or six issue series.

 SIEGE #3
KIERON GILLEN (W)
FILIPE ANDRADE (A)
Cover by W. SCOTT FORBES
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
AN ENEMY RISES! And this time…IT’S PERSONAL.
• The Shield is under siege! A Siege. In a book called “Siege.” Does this count as a spoiler?
• Things are looking bad for our crew on the Shield, and a “good” day involves everything trying to kill them, so…
• Bizarre armories, viscous villains, unstrung heroes, and battles beyond reason.
• Everyone’s going to die. It’s Awesome. Welcome to the Siege.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
*SECRET WARS SERIES

This is a fun write-up!

 ULTIMATE END #4 (OF 5)
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (w) • MARK BAGLEY (a/C)
MANGA ARTIST VARIANT COVER BY TBA
WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?
• TONY VS TONY, CLINT VS CLINT, HULK VS HULK!
• The tear between domains deepens…
• How long can two territories occupy the same space?
•  Here comes MILES…
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

            Here is still hoping that Ultimate Shadowcat makes it to this series! and survives it!

 SECRET WARS JOURNAL #4 (of 5)
MIKE BENSON & SINA GRACE (w)
LAURA BRAGA & VICTOR IBANEZ (a)
Cover by STEPHEN THOMPSON
• No one goes AWOL from the SHIELD without the Punisher’s punishment! MIKE BENSON and LAURA BRAGA chronicle Frank’s first patrol with new partner Iron Fist—but something sinister lurking beneath the surface may just make it their last!
• And hiding amongst the humans in the DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, Psylocke finally decides it’s time to make her move and liberate her fellow mutants! But can one psychic ninja hope to take on an endless army of Sentinels?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

 

Super interested in the Psylocke Days of Future Past story, though I thought we knew what she was up to from Excalibur 94. Iron Fist and Punisher, I could see being a good team.

Marvel August 2015 Solicts Star Lord AoA Shadowcat 3 YASMINE PUTRI
Art by Yasmine Putri

 STAR-LORD & KITTY PRYDE #3
SAM HUMPHRIES (w) • ALTI FIRMANSYAH (a)
Cover by YASMINE PUTRI
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
• The MARVEL UNIVERSE is dead!
• But #Starkat lives FOREVER!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
*SECRET WARS SERIES

 

Is this the final issue of the series? I’m still super interested in the variant covers and I can’t wait for the first issue to finally come out!

HOUSE OF M #1
DENNIS HOPELESS (w)
Marco Failla (a)
COVER BY KRIS ANKA
• The House of Magnus controls all, having crushed all resistance to their reign. Magneto rules with an iron-fist, while his children and grandchildren live their lives as royals—with all the privileges and pit-falls that come with that title.
• But is Magneto’s control as all-encompassing as it seems? And what happens to a conqueror when there is no one left to conquer?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
HOUSE OF M #2
DENNIS HOPELESS (w)
Marco Failla (a)
COVER BY KRIS ANKA
• What do QUICKSILVER and NAMOR have planned for Magneto’s kingdom? Is the heir-apparent to the House of Magnus a traitor?!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

I highly doubt Chicago based school teacher, Katherine Pryde, will be involved in this but I will be tracking it.

 HANK JOHNSON, AGENT OF HYDRA #1
DAVID MANDEL (w) • MICHAEL WALSH (a)
Cover by AMANDA CONNER
Variant Cover by MICHAEL WALSH
• Hey there, comic reader! Have you ever wondered what Hydra agents do during their downtime? No? Well…then, uh, go read HAIL HYDRA. For everyone else with a burning desire to see a Hydra agent letting it all hang out, THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU! BE THRILLED as Hank picks up his kids from school! BE AMAZED as Hank talks with Hydra’s HR department! And BE STUPEFIED as Hank wishes he had picked a different line of work! From CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM executive producer David Mandel, Hank Johnson, Agent of Hydra will have you looking at faceless henchmen in a whole new light.
32 PGS./ONE SHOT/Rated T+ …$3.99

 

This is a very fun concept! I wonder if it would be the eventful Journal / Battleworld trade. They have to combine those minis in one trade, right?

AGE OF APOCALYPSE #3
FABIAN NICIEZA (w)
GERARDO SANDOVAL (a/C)
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
• The race to claim the LEGACY VIRUS before it’s released by the human insurgency grows desperate! The X-MEN and the HORSEMEN of the APOCALYPSE vie for a weapon that can mean victory for Magneto’s rebels or ultimate power for the forces of En Sabah Nur.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Still waiting for both the cover with AoA Shadowcat and to see if she will play a role in this, at all. As I still believe she can be in two series, at the same time. Of course, she can!

 A-FORCE #4
MARGUERITE BENNETT & G. WILLOW WILSON (w) • JORGE MOLINA (a/C)
MANGA ARTIST VARIANT BY TBA
•  With the fate of Arcadia hanging in the balance, a traitor in A-FORCE’s ranks is revealed!
•  But why would she sell out her teammates?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
*SECRET WARS SERIES

 

            Now that the series is well underway, this seems to not be a rotating cast but a defined one.
Marvel August 2015 Solicts Giant Sized Little Marvel AvX 3 Skottie Young
Art by Skottie Young

 

GIANT-SIZE LITTLE MARVEL: AVX #3
SKOTTIE YOUNG (w) • SKOTTIE YOUNG (a/C)
Variant Cover by TBA
• Playtime is serious business in the land of Marville and our tiniest heroes are putting in work to prove to their new neighbors which crew
toughest.
• The smaller they are, the harder they brawl–this is BATTLEWORD after all.
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
*SECRET WARS SERIES

Lil Magik made it to the first issue and her soulsword is on the cover to this one, so this must still be an outstanding series!

 X-MEN ’92 #3
CHRIS SIMS & CHAD BOWERS (w) • SCOTT KOBLISH (a)
Cover by PEPE LARRAZ
• When the X-Men are in trouble who can Westchester depend on?
• How about X-Force ’92?
• Cable, Deadpool, Domino, Psylocke, Archangel and Biushop enter the fray!
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99
*SECRET WARS SERIES

X-Force 92, is awesome! Let’s see more teams in this universe!

 E IS FOR EXTINCTION #3  
CHRIS BURNHAM (w) • RAMON VILLALOBOS (a)
Cover by Ian Bertram
• Is Quentin Quire a Magneto loyalist or simply an anarchist eager for destruction?
• Plus, Wolverine finds himself in a tight situation and Dr. Hank McCoy confronts his most intelligent and formidable challenger yet—himself!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
*SECRET WARS SERIES

            That is a lot of Beast on the cover! Once again, I doubt I will be getting into this series.            

 

Marvel August 2015 Solicts Years of Future Past 4 Art Adams
Cover by Art Adams

 

YEARS OF FUTURE PAST #4
MARGUERITE BENNETT (w) • MIKE NORTON (a)
Cover by ARTHUR ADAMS
• Reeling from the secrets that Kate Pryde has kept, the X-Men lead a prison break from the last mutant internment camp.
• The X-Men clash with friends and enemies alike…and their true purpose is revealed at last!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
*SECRET WARS SERIES

 

Oh, Kate Pryde having secrets, I like that! I take it, the cover has a young daughter and son of Pryde-Rasputin, which makes me sad thinking of them as being dead.

X-TINCTION AGENDA #3
MARC GUGGENHEIM (w) • CARMINE DI GIANDOMENICO (a)
Cover by DAVID NAKAYAMA
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
• It’s all-out war as the X-Men invade Genosha to retrieve their captured allies!
• But a shadow from their past may pose a far greater threat than they realize.
• And be prepared for the rise of…WarLocke!!!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
*SECRET WARS SERIES

Another X-Series I wish I could be interested in but I doubt I will be.

 OLD MAN LOGAN #4
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (w) • ANDREA SORRENTINO (a/C)
MANGA ARTIST VARIANT COVER BY TBA
• As the mysteries of Battleworld begin to unravel, Logan finds himself in a world eerily similar to the one he himself helped dismantle.
• But in trying to untangle the web of secrets, he soon realizes that he may not even be able to trust his own memories.
• And this new neighborhood may not be as friendly as he thought…
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99
*SECRET WARS SERIES

A Spider-Man involved in Old Man Logan, probably filling the role Hawkeye had in the original series? Memories? Maybe we will get a flashback sequence?

PLANET HULK #4
SAM HUMPHRIES (w) • MARC LAMING (a)
Cover by MICHAEL DEL MUNDO
MANGA VARIANT COVER BY TBA
DEVIL DINOSAUR SAYS BUY THIS COMIC BECAUSE…
• RAAAAAUGH!
• GRRRRRR…
• If you don’t, I will eat YOU and your FAMILY
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
*SECRET WARS SERIES

Devil Dinosaur is getting some edge!

INFERNO #4
DENNIS HOPELESS (w) • JAVIER GARRON (a/C)
• The gates have burst open. Hell has broken loose.
• And as if things weren’t bleak enough…
• Enter Mister Sinister (shame on you for thinking we left him out)!
• Will anything survive the flame as All Out Inferno War burns on?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
*SECRET WARS SERIES

 

Sinister’s presence means this series is going to start being heavy on Madelyn Pryor. Let’s hope Illyana still gets some play in this.

DEADPOOL’S SECRET SECRET WARS #4 (of 4)
CULLEN BUNN (w) • MATTEO LOLLI (a)
Cover by TONY HARRIS
MANGA ARTIST VARIANT COVER BY TBA
• You guys understand this is NOT A SECRET WARS TIE-IN, right?
• It’s nothing less than the TRUTH that THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW!
• THIS is how the ORIGINAL SECRET WARS really ended!
• YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE IT! Which is your right.
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99

Lockheed did appear in the first issue, so let’s hope he gets in the rest of this series!

 THE UNBEATABLE SQUIRREL GIRL #8
RYAN NORTH (W) • ERICA HENDERSON (A/C)
• It’s the classic tale of good (squirrel) versus evil (squirrel) as SQUIRREL GIRL fights RATATOSKR, the Norse Squirrel God!  The fate of the world hangs in the balance!
• And yes, “Norse Squirrel God” means that Thor shows up to help!  AND Loki!
• Loki’s a huge character!  He’s been in THREE different movies so far.  Three!
• He’s only in our comic for a couple of pages though
• Oh!  This book also features FRIENDSHIP and SASS and PUNCHES!!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99

This series seems like a load of fun!

 ALL-NEW X-MEN VOL. 3 HC
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Penciled by STUART IMMONEN, SARA PICHELLI & MORE
Cover by STUART IMMONEN
The original X-Men’s arrival in the present sent shockwaves through the Marvel Universe, but we’ve only seen the effects on Earth — until now! When an alien race discovers that Jean Grey — once (or future) host of the
destructive Phoenix Force — is back, they decide to hold her accountable for Dark Phoenix’s genocide! Now it’s up to the Guardians of the Galaxy to help the All-New X-Men save Jean from twisted intergalactic justice. But
will they be enough against the universe’s most powerful army? Back on Earth, the present-day Beast is tortured by his decision to bring the original X-Men forward in time, but can he repair the damage he’s done while the future Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is still gunning for the time-tossed teens? Collecting ALL-NEW X-MEN #22-30 and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2013) #11-13.
288 PGS./Rated T+ …$34.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9823-9
Trim size: oversized

I could recommend this trade, just for the Trial of Jean Grey so that you would be able to see the beginning of StarKat for yourself! All New X-Men 25 was such a great issue but don’t expect any of those hinted stories to actually happen, as they still haven’t.

 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 5 PREMIERE HC
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Penciled by VALERIO SCHITI & FRANK CHO
Cover by VALERIO SCHITI
The Guardians of the Galaxy are caught in the pull of the Black Vortex! With the Slaughter Lords hot on their tails, the X-Men and the Guardians must find somewhere to stash their precious cargo, but will the temptation of the Vortex’s unknown power be too much for this band of misfits? Rocket leaps into action! Gamora goes on the offensive! Ronan is deposed! Star-Lord is defiant! This story has it all — but does it seem like the Guardians have forgotten something in all the cosmic craziness? Oh, that’s right, Peter got elected president of Spartax! Wait, what?! As rifts begin forming within the team, will their friendship and history be enough to hold the Guardians together? Plus: What is a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier doing floating in space?! Collecting GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY (2013) #24-27 and ANNUAL (2015) #1.
136 PGS./Rated T …$24.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9766-9
Trim size: standard

 

This collection has the Black Vortex tie in with 25 and Kitty continued to be in issues 26 & 27, as well.

WOLVERINES VOL. 4: DESTINY TPB
Written by CHARLES SOULE & RAY FAWKES
Penciled by ARIO ANINDITO, JUAN CABAL, JONATHAN MARKS, ARIELA KRISTANTINA & JUAN DOE
Cover by JUAN DOE
Mister Sinister was robbed of his prize — the Adamantium-covered body of Wolverine — when the X-Men stole it from his Finland fortress. But they left something behind — another piece of the puzzle, something else that was taken from our team. Now, Sinister has his revenge! And in the aftermath of his brutal attack, which heroes will remain standing — and who will not survive?! As the dust settles, the final pieces of the puzzle fall into place, and Mystique’s endgame stands fully revealed. But she’s not just trying to resurrect her long-lost love Destiny. Where does this leave the Wolverines? Find out how it all ends as everything comes crashing down! Collecting WOLVERINES #16-20.
112 PGS./Parental Advisory …$15.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9767-6

            The final storyline, pretty good finish, thus far. I imagine trades one and four are all you really need.

 DEATH OF WOLVERINE TPB
Written by CHARLES SOULE
Penciled by STEVE MCNIVEN
Cover by STEVE MCNIVEN
Logan is no stranger to death. He’s killed thousands. He’s watched teammates, friends and lovers die. Now, stripped of his healing factor,
the X-Man and Avenger faces his own date with the reaper. There’s a bounty on his head, a price big enough to put a horde of enemies and assassins on his trail. The race is on to find Wolverine, but who put out the contract? Sabretooth? Viper? Or someone even worse? When Logan discovers that his mystery foe wants him alive, he turns on the offensive. As the hunted becomes the hunter once more, he’s determined to die the way he lived. The Wolverine will go out fighting. Collecting DEATH OF WOLVERINE #1-4.
144 PGS./Rated T+ …$19.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9163-6

            Buy this before his return, I bet! Issue three is astonishing and his death is four is lackluster. Could Wolverine be coming back in issue 20 of Wolverines?  That would explain the reissuing of the trade.

A.K.A. JESSICA JONES: ALIAS VOL. 1 TPB
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Penciled by MICHAEL GAYDOS & BILL SIENKIEWICZ
NEW COVER BY DAVID MACK
Meet Jessica Jones. Once upon a time, she was a costumed super hero — but not a very good one. Her powers were unremarkable compared to the amazing abilities of the costumed icons that populate the Marvel Universe. In a city of Marvels, she never found her niche. The self-destructive would-be Avenger is now the owner and sole employee of Alias Investigations — a small, private-investigative firm specializing in superhuman cases. When
she uncovers the potentially explosive secret of one hero’s true identity, Jessica’s life immediately becomes expendable. But her wit, charm and intelligence just may help her survive another day. Thrust into the midst of a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels, has Jessica burned too many bridges to turn to old friends for help? Collecting ALIAS #1-9.
208 PGS./Explicit Content …$24.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9855-0
A.K.A. JESSICA JONES: ALIAS VOL. 2 TPB
Written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS
Penciled by MICHAEL GAYDOS & DAVID MACK
NEW COVER BY DAVID MACK
All she ever wanted was to be a super hero. But life had other plans for Jessica Jones. Now, the adventures of the would-be Avenger turned bitter super-powered private eye continue with two new cases. First, Jessica travels to upstate New York to investigate the disappearance of a teenage girl rumored to be a mutant in a prejudiced small town — but a murder mystery and a drunken, ill-advised fling complicate matters. Then, the hard-luck PI goes on a date with…the Astonishing Ant-Man?! Collecting ALIAS #11-15.
128 PGS./Explicit Content …$19.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9856-7

            A tad early for these, right? I liked the series but I don’t quite remember much from it besides the Cage / Jones / Lang relationship.

 NEXTWAVE: AGENTS OF H.A.T.E. – THE COMPLETE COLLECTION TPB
NEW PRINTING!
Written by WARREN ELLIS
Penciled by STUART IMMONEN
Cover by STUART IMMONEN
RRRAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!! Action! Excitement! Explosions! The Highest Anti-Terrorism Effort, or H.A.T.E. (a subsidiary of the Beyond Corporation©) put NEXTWAVE together to fight Bizarre Weapons of Mass Destruction. When NEXTWAVE discovers that H.A.T.E. and Beyond© are terrorist cells themselves, and that the BWMDs were intended to kill them, they are less than pleased. In fact, they are rather angry. So they make things explode. Lots of things. Starring Monica Rambeau (formerly Captain Marvel and Photon), Aaron Stack (Machine Man), Tabitha Smith (X-Force’s Meltdown), monster-hunter Elsa Bloodstone and The Captain! If you like anything, you will LOVE NEXTWAVE! BOOM! Included on the Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for 2007 by the Youth Adult Library Services Association, Nextwave is a pure extraction of comic-book action and adventure, with plenty of kicks, punches and explosions along the way! Collecting
NEXTWAVE: AGENTS OF H.A.T.E. #1-12.
304 PGS./Parental Advisory …$34.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9839-0

I’ve been meaning to read this, after the years of reading the hype. $35, I wonder how much that would be at Hastings, with the discount?

 INHUMANS BY PAUL JENKINS & JAE LEE TPB
NEW PRINTING!
Written by PAUL JENKINS
Penciled by JAE LEE
Cover by JAE LEE
The Inhumans are one of Marvel’s most enduring oddities. A race of genetic anomalies secluded on their island kingdom of Attilan, their mutations are self-inflicted; as a coming-of-age ritual, each Inhuman exposes themselves to the Terrigen Mists that impart unearthly powers — some extraordinary, some monstrous. But now, Attilan is under attack from without and within. Can the Royal Family, led by the mute Black Bolt, repel the foreign invaders who assail their outer defenses, as well as the internal threat of Black Bolt’s insane brother, Maximus the Mad? Paul Jenkins and Jae Lee infuse one of Marvel’s oldest families with a modern sensibility — including international politics, class dissension and the age-old struggle of growing up. Dark and grimly compelling, it remains one of Marvel Knights’ most beloved stories. Collecting INHUMANS (1998) #1-12.
304 PGS./Rated T …$34.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9749-2

            I still want to get the motion comic for this as the dialogue is very crisp and the political intrigue, I imagine, would sound awesome. Such a great trade and Agents of SHIELD should have had a commercial for the trade, or something.

 FALLEN SON: THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA TPB
NEW PRINTING!
Written by JEPH LOEB
Penciled by LEINIL FRANCIS YU, ED MCGUINNESS, JOHN ROMITA JR., DAVID FINCH & JOHN CASSADAY
Cover by ED MCGUINNESS
Where were you when you heard that Captain America died? You were probably shocked, most likely thinking, “How could they? How could this happen to Cap?” And for a moment, perhaps you thought about all the ways the super soldier meant something to you. Fallen Son follows the reaction of the legendary hero’s best friends and closest comrades as they struggle to work through the stages of grief stirred by the loss of their ally. Wolverine. The Avengers. Hawkeye. Spider-Man. Iron Man. All have their own sense of loss, their own levels of grieving. This is their story. This is Cap’s story. This is our story. The story of a Fallen Son and the world he helped make a better place. Collecting FALLEN SON: THE DEATH OF CAPTAIN AMERICA — WOLVERINE, AVENGERS, CAPTAIN AMERICA, SPIDER-MAN and IRON MAN.
128 PGS./Rated T+ …$19.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9859-8

 

Weird to keep this in circulation, right? Like, why remind people that Cap died and came back, like two years later? Plus, it wasn’t that good.

 

. . .

 

So my list looks like this :

 

Secret Wars 6            $4

Master of Kung Fu 4            $4

Ultimate End 4            $4

Secret War Journal 4            $4

Star Lord & Kitty Pryde 3            $4

Giant Size Little Marvel : AvX 3            $4

Deadpool’s Secret Secret War 4            $4

Years of Future Past 4            $4

Inferno 4            $4

 

Maybe List

 

Secret Wars : Secret Love            $5
Age of Apocalypse 3            $4

 

Tracking

 

House of M 1 & 2

 

Nine titles at $36, which isn’t bad. With my discount at Hastings, that is minus nine dollars for a new total of $27, which is even better! So I could get my maybes at (9-2=7) for $34, that sounds pretty great to me.

. . .

Just for my sake, I have to remember to add both

House of M
Secret Wars : Secret Love

To my pull list.

You may have to, as well but you live your own life.

 

Avengers Volume Four Issue 4

Posted by John Klein III on May 22, 2015
Posted in: Review, Websites. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Avengers Volume Four Issue 4

Writer Brian Michael Bendis

Penciler John Romita Jr.

Inker Klaus Janson

Colorist Dean White

Letters & Production VC’s Cory Petit

Cover Dated September 2010

Cover by Jim Cheung and Justin Ponsor

Next Avengers, Part Four of Six

I only own this issue for the Women of Marvel cover.

I want to say that I dropped this and the other Avengers titles soon after this.  I think there were rumors of upcoming crossovers and I just wanted to be done with all of that.

I had six of these Women of Marvel variants in my hands at Hastings, one day, the total would have been around twenty dollars and I was heading towards the register and changed my mind.  I still regret that as two weeks later, they were nowhere to be found.  I’m sure someone found them and didn’t hesitate to purchase them.

Issue opens with Iron Man, Captain America, Wolverine and The Protector in a cave under Central Park.  Captain America is Bucky Barnes, at this point in continuity.  Bucky Cap, as fans call him.  The Protector was a creation of Grant Morrison and JG Jones in the Marvel Boy series, which was intended to be an Ultimate Universe miniseries but it was more stand alone.  I believe that was the story.

They are in the future and Iron Man is trying to caution them for what they might see.  They come out of the cave and see Ultron fighting a swarm of heroes.  Ultron is fighting Kang and I can’t tell which side the heroes are on.  The Warriors Thre are there, Silver Surfer is fighting Kang.  Moondragon, Cyclops, Thing, Doctor Doom, Monica Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers Captain Marvel (Ms. Marvel at the time, previously Warbird) and Juggernaut are all on the scene.   So it can’t be all that far into the future.

Oh good, there is a Previous page.  The Avengers are – Wolverine, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Thor, Captain America, Spider-Woman and Hawkeye are hand picked by Steve Rogers – who is the Director of SHIELD, at this time.  The children of the Avengers have killed Immortus, future Kang (it is complicated) and a young Kang told our then-present day Avengers, that their children broke the future.  The Hulk of the future is responsible for sending Kang back in time.  The Avengers built a time machine.  They run into Apocalypse and his four horsemen.  Half of the team, that we’ve seen now in this issue, are in the future while the other half deal with the Present Day Time Quake.

Washington Square Park.  Right Now.  Thor, Spider-Woman, Spider-Man and Hawkeye are talking to Killraven.  Who Bendis really likes to use in his time travel stories (which now that I type this, he really likes to do – it is a fun way to play with all of the toys in the Marvel treasure chest.  Killraven recognizes Spider-Man back in Marvel Team-Up 45, Killraven is from the future, an alternate future.  He tries to warn the Avengers, an explosion happens and everyone is covered in pink goo.

What looks like an Martian Invasion from World of the Wars, with those giant tripods, are attacking the city.  They are not prepared for a direct attack by Thor.  Good thing that guy is on our side.

Iron Man must be coming out as there are plenty of ads for related merchandise.

Maria Hill is trying to get all of the civilians off the streets.

For Killraven, he met Spider-Man only a few weeks ago while its been years for Spider-Man.  Or whatever the sliding time line makes it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killraven

Looking at Killraven’s Wikipedia page, the Martians are part of his story.

Civilians are shouting at Hawkeye, that makes sense to me, I would be so tired of all of the costume nonsense if I lived in New York City.  How many days of work do people miss, in a given month, due to costume nonsense?  Instead of Snow Days, do they have Hero Days or Costume Days?

Poor Killraven, he went to prehistoric dinosaur times, next to the American Civil War, and stopped in the Present Day.  Killraven’s home is New York City, as well.

Civilians start fighting each other.  They look like they are from Gangs of New York.

There is a great splash page, as the previous page Spider-Woman is hoping the time quake (that’s what I’m calling it) is only affecting a few blocks but we see on the splash page, that it is all across the city.  Galactus is there, to correct all of this – the only way he knows how.

The Future.  Bucky Cap aims to shoot Kang but Wolverine stops him.  Wolverine doesn’t think they need to do anything about the Future.  Iron Man calls it, a break in the timestream.  Which is more words than Time Quake.  Is Time Break, a decent compromise?  Iron Man wants to avoid the big battle in front of them, which is smart, it is a mere distraction.  They need to find their children.  Wolverine smells something and takes a Captain America shield to the face.  The Avengers are taking a beating from a mysterious force.

We see the kids from the animated film, Avengers Next, just took down the Avengers – so they are now in Marvel continuity.  There is a Captain America son, a Black Panther son, a third son with black and orange stripes, an Asgardian daughter and a Hawkeye son.

Future Hulk is going by Maestro – which I like that that is the certain future of the Hulk, or he is a mindless brute.

There is an ad for the Hickman / Epting’s Fantastic Four, hinting at one of the Four is going to die.  This ad has Reed, Thing and Human Torch, implying that Susan is the one who dies.  It isn’t her.

Wolverine is the first to wake up, Maestro greats him like an old friend.  He knew Iron Man would bring some people but he wasn’t sure who would make up the Avengers.  He was not expecting Wolverine.  This Maestro isn’t the dictator we have known in previous versions, he seems pretty jolly.

Maestro keeps hinting that someone is pulling his strings.  Turns out, Tony Stark of this future, told Maestro to send the young Kang back in time.

There is an ad for Incredible Hulks 612, back when Hulk had a huge cast of characters – She-Hulk, Red She-Hulk, A-Bomb (Rick Jones) and Skaar, his son.

Old Tony tells Maestro to hold his younger self.  When the Hulk grips you, you are gripped.  Captain America’s son’s name is James, he is a brunette.

Issue ends with what appears to be Old Tony about to cut Young Tony, that isn’t good.

. . .

The issue has a backup feature  :

Avengers Assemble : The Oral History of the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes

Chapter Six

I really like the concept of this and I saw that they did trade this, which is a pretty fun concept.

Characters interviewed in this chapter are : Hank Pym, Tony Stark, Janet Van Dyne, Captain America, Thor, Rick Jones, Hawkeye, Spider-Man and Namor.

 The story goes from after Avengers 4 with Captain America waking up in then modern age to when Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver are about to join the team, issue 16.  This continues in New Avengers 4.