Marvel June 2024 Solicitations

Posted by John Klein III on March 21, 2024
Posted in: Solicitations. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment
Full June 2024 Marvel Comics solicitations: Ultimates #1 and more Blood Hunt

Starting off ‘strong’ with the movie of the year, Deadpool & Wolverine with Deadpool & Wolverine WWIII 2 of 3

Blood Hunt 3 and 4 of 5, I imagine the trades for this will be out just in time for October?

Strange Academy Blood Hunt 2 of 3, is still one of the few spinoffs I’m interested in.

Wolverine is getting his own Blood Hunt mini.

Jubilee is getting her own one shot by PREETI CHHIBBER (W) • Enid Balám (A), so that should be fun. Plus, she has an invested interest in keeping vampires under control.

. . .

X-MEN: BLOOD HUNT – MAGIK #1

ASHLEY ALLEN (W) • Jesús Hervás (A)

Cover by ROD REIS

VARIANT COVER BY PEACH MOMOKO

STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER

BY ELENA CASAGRANDE

MAGIK VARIANT COVER BY IVAN TALAVERA

MAGIK VIRGIN VARIANT COVER

BY IVAN TALAVERA

• After the Fall of the House of X, Illyana Rasputina has returned to her homeland to search her soul and steel it for what comes next.

• But how will she protect her first home when a vampire army descends on Russia, seeking to turn it into a living hell?

• She may have been forged in the fires of Limbo, but has it prepared her for the Blood Hunt?

32 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$3.99

Now here is the one shot I’m mostly excited about!

I’m not familiar with either ASHLEY ALLEN (W) • Jesús Hervás (A), but I’m excited for the opportunity to get to know their work now.

Plus, that Peach Momoko (who is a real person, by the way), variant cover? So much fun!

I don’t see any X-Men on any of the main series covers, so I imagine they are only involved in the stories we’re told they are involved in.

. . .

X-MEN #35 (LEGACY #700)

GERRY DUGGAN, KIERON GILLEN, AL EWING, CHRIS CLAREMONT, JED MACKAY & GAIL SIMONE (W)

PHIL NOTO, MARK BROOKS, JOSHUA CASSARA, LUCAS WERNECK, JEROME OPEÑA, STEFANO CASELLI,

WALTEr SIMONSON, LEINIL FRANCIS YU & MORE (A) • WRAPAROUND Cover by PEPE LARRAZ

BIG MARVEL VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG

BIG MARVEL SKETCH VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG

TRADING CARD VARIANT COVER BY RUSSELL DAUTERMAN

WRAPAROUND VARIANT COVER BY SCOTT KOBLISH

PRIDE ALLIES VARIANT COVER BY BETSY COLA • VARIANT COVER BY BEN HARVEY

VARIANT COVER BY TBA • VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY PEPE LARRAZ

INSIGNIA VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE • INSIGNIA VIRGIN VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLEEzoic

THE END OF AN ERA – UNCANNY X-MEN #700!

All good things must come to an end, and as good of a thing as the Krakoan era has been for mutantkind…its time has come at last. The tragedy and triumph of FALL OF THE HOUSE OF X, the madness and mystery of RISE OF THE POWERS OF X…they have all come to their end and led to this moment that will change the future of mutantkind for years to come. Written and drawn by an all-star cast of writers and artists who have shaped the Krakoan Age, this is one milestone no X-Fan will want to miss! Also featuring a story of family by X-Men master Chris Claremont…and a glimpse of things to come!

88 PGS./Rated T+ …$9.99

an end of an era, and a $10 comic, but it is also 88 pages, so we’re getting a lot for our buck. Plus, Lockheed is on the main cover! We are also getting an epilogue into the next era at the end of this.

Jason Aaron is writing an Uncle Scrooge series? As he’s about to launch TMNT with a new number one? He’s back, baby.

Ultimates 1, with an interesting cast of characters – Iron Lad (Stark), Captain America, Doom, Thor and Sif – but if this deals directly with the Maker stuff, probably be a pass for me. Unless Ultimate Magik shows up in this.

Ultimate X-Men 4, Nico of the Runaways joins the team! So who knows what is possible here in the Ultimate Universe.

Venomverse Reborn, is a hard pass for me, just on name alone.

X-MEN: HEIR OF APOCALYPSE #1 (OF 4)

STEVE FOXE (W) • NETHO DIAZ (A)

Cover by DOTUN AKANDE

APOCALYPSE MARVEL MASTERPIECES III VARIANT COVER BY GREG & TIM HILDEBRANDT

APOCALYPSE MARVEL MASTERPIECES III VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY GREG & TIM HILDEBRANDT

VARIANT COVER BY DAVI GO

For centuries, Apocalypse tested the mutants of Earth to guarantee that only the strong would survive. Now, as he takes his throne on Arakko, another must rise in his place and ensure the mutants of Earth do not grow weak in his absence! Twelve mutants chosen from the X-Men’s greatest heroes – and villains – will compete for the honor, but only one can become…the HEIR OF APOCALYPSE!

40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99

Awkwardly being squeezed in between the end of Krakoa and From the Ashes, we get another attempt at The Twelve.

Emma Frost is supposed to be involved, and it is written by Steve Fox, so it should be a good read. We get two issues out in June.

X-Men 97 4 of 4 concludes, also by Steve Foxe. Hopefully he earns an ongoing eventually.

Wolverine : Madripoor Knights 5 of 5 concludes.

Ms. Marvel : Mutant Menace 4 of 4, shame we keep losing an issue for each new mini this amazing creative team gets. Going back to her Inhumans roots, probably isn’t great as we are about to launch a new X-Men era. Will she be there?

Deadpool Role-Plays the Marvel Universe sounds fun.

I’m not sure why Minnie Mouse is Dazzler on a Disney What If variant to Amazing Spider-Man 51, but now I have to check these variants for any other X-Men references.

What If Venom 5 of 5 ends, so maybe we can get some fun What Ifs now.

Venom 3 is supposed to come to theaters this year, so I get they have to get all of these new stories in stores, but it seems like so much month to month.

JMS is back at Marvel, and writing Captain America 10?! I got to start paying more attention to these other books.

That’s a lot of Star Wars titles to scroll pass.

. . .

Trades –

Ghost Rider 2099 Omnibus $100

ROM Marvel Years Omnibus 3 $125

Dazzler Omnibus $150, this does seem like quite a deal, just for the 42 issues alone, but they included so much more!

Collecting X-MEN (1963) #130-131, AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #203, DAZZLER (1981) #1-42, MARVEL GRAPHIC NOVEL (1982) #12, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST #1-4, SECRET WARS II #4, and material from WHAT IF (1977) #33 and MARVEL FANFARE (1982) #38.

X-Men : X-Tinction Agenda Omnibus seems like the perfect way to read that story, $125

. . .

so not a bad month for trades, and very light for X-Men comics, so Blood Hunt came out at the perfect time.

Marvel’s X-Men Panel at SXSW 2024

Posted by John Klein III on March 15, 2024
Posted in: News. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Thanks to Marvel Entertainment for hosting their own video.

Huge THANKS to LaughingPlace.com for being at the panel. Their coverage made it possible for me to follow along.

I said earlier in the day, whoever has content from the panel, will get a follow from me, and that’s what I did.

So the big BIG announcement was that the Post-Krakoan Era is going to be called “From the Ashes” – which I still don’t love, as that’s a sacred title associated with my all time favorite fun of X-Men, the Paul Smith/Bob Wiacek era, but here we are.

We are getting three main teams –

Gail Simone & David Marquez on Uncanny X-Men, the clear main team

The Roster is going to be – Rogue, Gambit, Nightcrawler, Logan, and Jubilee.

So a pretty classic lineup, and if any fans of the new X-Men 97 cartoon, want a comic, this is the comic for them.

This team’s adventures will be set in Louisiana, so we can expect some Thieves Guild, but what I’m really excited about is the family dynamics of Rogue and Nightcrawler together.

plus, Gail Simone is clearly the head writer of this new era, and I love fun in my comics, so I’m hoping this is a fun new era. I’m sure there will be dark and dreary moments, but I’m hoping there’s at least an element of fun.

Marquez is quite the artist as well, so we’re in good hands.

The only problem is that . . . besides Nightcrawler and the creative team, its a team I don’t have any stakes in.

Also, how great that Uncanny is back! Especially now that we have issue 700.

. . .

The second team is my second favorite.

X-Men, written by Jed MacKay and drawn by Ryan Stegman.

The roster is Cyclops, Magik, NuOld Beast, Psylocke, Magneto, Juggernaut, Oya, and Kid Omega.

I really wish we got Magik on the third title, but then this title would be missable for me as well, but I do love it when Cyclops and Magik are together, those two are great together.

MacKay is on a career high with his Avengers run, a beloved Black Cat run, and an upcoming giant vampire theme company wide crossover, Blood Hunt. Which Magik has a one shot involved, but that is being brought to us by Ashley Allen and Jesús Hervás. But I had the thought it would be a good place to see MacKay handle Magik, but we’ll get there.

I find it interesting that Magneto is in a chair, we’re to make the connection to Xavier in a chair. Cyclops and Magneto are also a great pair, we are only missing Emma or this would be a reunion of the Bendis’ Uncanny X-Men team.

Juggernaut with a giant X on his helmet, I guess so you know where he’s hitting you when he’s charging at you?

Oya being on a main team feels like this is long overdue. Changing her name to, Temper, seems like a horrible back step, for multiple reasons. One obvious one, is that she went from a very unique name to a very copyright unfriendly name, but there’s plenty Marvel’s Temper like characters, so that’s an easy fix.

Quentin Quire is my least favorite character in all of these lineups, but I do like him when paired with Oya, so I guess they already figured that out.

This team will take place in Alaska, so that’s great for Scott, maybe he’ll visit his grandparents more often now?

. . .

Then we finally get to my absolute favorite title of the relaunch :

Exceptional X-Men!

Written by Eve L. Ewing, who I’m not familiar with, but have been recommended her Champions run, and Black Panther runs. As well as her poetry is supposed to very good.

Drawn by Carmen Carnero, who I’m also not familiar with, but from what I’ve seen, is very talented.

I also adore that this is a female creative team writing a mostly female lead roster, so that feels great too.

The Roster is – Shadowkate, Emma Frost, and three new mutants, but not New Mutants – Bronze, Axo, and Melee.

two of those names the copyright office must have really loved – but its hard to come up with original names.

took a new twitter friend to point out that this new design for Kate Pryde is very X-Men Evolution coded.

I kept saying its her original basic yellow suit, but blue, as a homage to her Excalibur coloring . . . but just writing X-Men Evolution is so much faster. That, and I never thought about her Evolution costume being her trainee uniform, but blue.

but it totally is, and just being blue, makes me not even think of it as a trainee uniform, but instead, her own unique uniform.

We’ve seen it before in the Women of Marvel V5 1 comic as well :

and it looks great every time I see it.

When Emma Frost comes to Fortnite, I hope they use that hoverboard of hers as her glider. Seems so silly to include, that there’s only one explanation for it, she’s coming to Fortnite.

There was a fan survey sent out recently that asked which X-Men people would be interested in, and the options were Cyclops, Magneto, and Colossus. Two of those makes sense to me, and I’ll probably play Fortnite again for a season if they even brought one new mutant to the game, or even one New Mutant. I love this joke.

If I had to get Colossus, I’ll probably make a series of videos, using each one of my emotes, and have him land somewhere, and emote until he was eliminated. Maybe that’ll make for a better live stream?

Issue starts with Kate becoming a barista (really putting that Mekanix bartending skills to good use), trying to get away from the mutant nonsense (that will only last for the first few pages of the title), then has to protect these three new mutants, and then gets assistance from Emma Frost.

So it is nature’s best friends, Kate and Emma, teaching, which I’m already sold on.

I really wish Lockheed had made it to the promo art, or any of the promo art. It is the only thing giving me pause, but also, I’m fully committed to Exceptional X-Men.

Also, a very fun new adjective for the X-Men to have.

Their stories will take place in Chicago, so I love how the X-Men are scattered, and I imagine that is because the X-Office wants to make it so you don’t feel compelled to get every single title, you can get what you want, and there’s no pressure to get everything.

. . .

Which is great, as we’re not just getting three titles, we’re getting all of the titles!

Phoenix, Storm, and Wolverine are all getting solos. From the Women in Marvel oneshot, it appears Storm will be going on a press tour, so no more Queen of Arakko – which really, anything would be a step down from Queen of Mars so a press tour is at least something.

I really love the return of those classic logos.

NYX is a confusing title to bring back, as I only remember it as Joe Quesada’s comic he wrote himself, that was Laura Kinney’s first official comic book appearance, and he made the ‘brilliant’ choice to make her a sex worker who cut herself.

So instead of bringing those memories back, a more friendly District X title could have been nice, but maybe it is a copyright issue? That’s why we got so many New Mutants miniseries and such, as Marvel has to keep that title published x amount of years or lose the rights to it.

I’m going to guess that this is going to be the New York team of X-Men, with maybe Laura as the lead, and maybe Ms. Marvel too? Or is her time with the X-Office over?

I made the comparison to the Avengers Initiative, where they have an official Avengers team in every state, and this launch is like that, but with the X-Men, they could actually make 50 titles (most of them one shots), and I wonder which X-Men will be on the Arizona and Montana teams.

Arizona – Rachel Summers and Betsy

Montana – Outlaw

were the first ones to come to mind

I had to look it up :

Avengers Initiative Arizona was the Desert Stars – Two-Gun Kid, Komodo, Blacksmith, Johnny Cool, and Supermax.

Avengers Initiative Montana was Freedom Force (heck yeah!) – Challenger, Cloud 9, Equinox, Think Tank, and Spinner.

Then we have X-Factor and X-Force, and a slew of all star X-Men that are still unaccounted for, so at least 16 to 20 mutants will make up those two rosters.

July 2024 is when the three flagship titles come out, then maybe the rest in August?

Free Comic Book Day 2024 is May 4, 2024, and will be the second look at this new era, after the epilogue in X-Men V6 35, which is also Uncanny X-Men 700 (for some reason – should have just called it Uncanny X-Men 700)

So I’ll be taking the family up to Kelly’s Comics in Great Falls, ideally early, and devouring the comic.

which of course, ends the Krakoan Age, and hopefully, not the last we see of Lockheed.

. . .

From the trailer, Jubilee starts a hand gesture with what looks like Mercury, who does a response gesture :

I cannot get my middle fingers to want to do the Jubilee M, and I can barely do the response one, so I have to get better at that as I want to be a mutant ally.

I also like how we have co-opted the Spider-Man web fingers. He’s had it uncontested for too long.

Also from the trailer, the Xavier Mansion is rebuilt, and this time, is a prison for someone in the basement, Inmate X. Who has to be Xavier, right?

. . .

What are you, dear reader, most excited about?

I’ll be curious to see how long we get these titles before there is a crossover, issue six? issue twelve?

The first run of Krakoan Age comics all had great lengths, so I’m hoping we get to at least issue 25 before we get new number ones.

X-Men V6 32

Posted by John Klein III on March 12, 2024
Posted in: Reviews. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

We finally got this comic!

and it is going to be very hard to beat this comic this year for Comic of the Year!

Gerry Duggan, Phil Noto, and Clayton Cowles finally reunites the Shadow, the Flame, and the Magik!

Plus, Joshua Cassara and Marte Gracia treated us to such a fantastic cover.

I thought it was two years since Kate and Lockheed were together, but it has been a full year to the month since Marauders Volume 2 Issue 12. Which is still way too long for my taste.

Then immediately after the third Hellfire Gala, in X-Men V6 25, we get Kate Pryde’s concern for Lockheed :

Which clearly was Duggan setting up that we as Lockheed fans, can expect Lockheed to return . . . eventually.

Well, that eventually, turned out to be seven long long months.

Issue 32 has my favorite cast of characters :

So much so that I’m reorganizing my top ten X-Men to move Emma way up the list.

  1. Kate Pryde with Lockheed
  2. Magik
  3. Nightcrawler
  4. Emma Frost
  5. Storm
  6. Rachel Summers
  7. Cyclops
  8. ForgetMeNot
  9. Wolverine
  10. Rogue

Which I’m still not too thrilled with my last three there, but I think its a solid list. I almost had Emma at three, but I still have to keep my love for Kurt pretty high. Thankfully Uncanny Spider-Man was a delight.

Emma was at a solid six, then I swapped Storm and Rachel around.

Issue opens with exactly where Lockheed has been staying safe :

Lighthouse Keeper Bill (as I’ve been referring to him as) makes a terrific stealth Excalibur reference which I adored.

Next, we catch up with Magik who is invading an Orchis stronghold, looking for a scientist that infected her with nannobots which prevent her from using her powers. Which I did not read X-Men 24, but I read all of Realm of X, including those datapages / lore journals, and not once did they referenced Magik having nannobots inside her – they implied it was the Asgardian land / Saturnyne’s doing that was preventing Magik from using her powers. So I guess it was both?

So Magik finds the scientist, who wants to just kill her instead of helping so. Magik looks exhausted and in so much pain, so she isn’t quick enough to stop him.

Thankfully someone else is!

We get the first of two hugs, which I share twitter friend @GraysonMaximoff’s desire for the Katyana ship to move up to the kissing phase, but that hug is so well earned. The two of them have been separated since the Hellfire Gala.

Polaris comes in for the grand rescue, she removes the nannobots from Magik, and a Stark Sentinel arrives, and the trio has to destroy it.

Emma Frost arrives, and tells them that there is so much to do, but first, she has a gift for Kate :

Which I adore not only this page, and I would love a poster of this page as well, but that Lockheed was able to find Emma, or that he sought her out first, as she would know where Kate is – as they grew extremely close during Marauders Volume One – by far my favorite ongoing series of the Krakoan Era. X-Men Volume Six would probably be my second favorite, I’ll have to think about that, but I can’t think of what would come close.

So that would be the second hug of the issue as well.

There isn’t enough hugging in comics.

I also covered this on the podcast, if you want to hear how much I loved this comic :

Spotify –

Apple Podcast –

https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/115-x-men-2021-32/id1653932419?i=1000648726895

I also now have a linktree, that I’m hoping makes it easier to share all of my content

https://linktr.ee/JackalsIII

Thank you, dear reader, for reading, and listening, and for watching.

I started playing Midnight Suns, and been uploading my progress, as of this writing, I have 13 episodes to be enjoyed.

It has been such an enjoyable game, and I’ve been loving hanging out with Illyana, and she even considers my Hunter to be friends, which thrills me beyond belief.

Uncanny X-Men Volume 5 in under 240 Characters

Posted by John Klein III on March 11, 2024
Posted in: Retrospective. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

I’m such a fan of Matthew Rosenberg after all of these readings. It really helps that it is a completed work, so I’m not waiting such long times between issues.

What a ride!

I’m glad I finally read all of this, and then we were treated to the Krakoan Age.

I’m doing a reread of some Ultimates titles, but I think I have a plan for the next coverage, I just have to read the thing first.

Best X Issues of 2024 – February

Posted by John Klein III on March 6, 2024
Posted in: Best Of X Issues. Tagged: . Leave a comment

As of February 28 –

  1. Dead X-Men 1
  2. Spider-Gwen Smash 2
  3. Cable V5 1
  4. Resurrection of Magneto 2
  5. Women of Marvel V5 1
  6. Resurrection of Magneto 1
  7. Fall of the House of X 1
  8. Fall of the House of X 2
  9. Invincible Iron Man V5 15
  10. Dead X-Men 2

compared to January 31 –

  1. Dead X-Men 1
  2. Spider-Gwen Smash 2
  3. Resurrection of Magneto 1
  4. Cable V5 1
  5. Fall of House of X 1
  6. Invincible Iron Man V5 14
  7. Rise of the Powers of X 1
  8. X-Men V6 30

Marvel May 2024 Solicitations

Posted by John Klein III on February 21, 2024
Posted in: Solicitations. Leave a comment

Thanks to Bleeding Cool for having the solicitations

Blood Hunt officially starts in May with two issues.

I’m super interested in Strange Academy Blood Hunt 1 of 3, as I love the original series, and its follow up mini.

Plus, maybe Magik will be in this?

Ultimate Black Panther 4 still promises to have all of the Ultimate Storm content we can want.

I feel like I already love Ultimate X-Men, and I’m sure the third issue is going to be uncanny. We’re going to get officially acknowledgment that Ultimate X-Men does connect to the larger Ultimate Universe with Storm references.

We start rolling out all of the Deadpool and Wolverine content to tie in to the biggest movie of the year.

Deadpool and Wolverine WWIII (how many WWIIIs can we have?!) is a pass for Old Dad.

Hickman is writing a Valeria Richards series, also starring Doom, titled, Doom – where Doom has to try to save the Earth from Galactus. Is it an ongoing? It doesn’t list part 1 of anything.

Hellverine is also a pass.

Garth Ennis. Nick Fury. Vietnam. Also a pass.

Another Giant Size X-Men 1?! I wish they’ll just continue the numbering as you know, Giant Size X-Men is a pretty important title, and issue number. At least this is written by Ann Nocenti, but its an Angel story set during the O5 days with some reprints? Another pass. Shame it isn’t an All New All Different never before told story, that would have been fun.

Avengers Twilight ends.

Deadpool 2 has Taskmaster

Spider-Man : Shadow of the Green Goblin 2, written by JM DeMatteis

Spectacular Spider-Men 3, Double Date! Miles and Kamala Khan, great! with Peter and Gwen Stacey?! Not as great.

Miles Morales : Spider-Man 20, references Ms. Marvel in the solicit, but reads like a list of things going wrong, so she probably isn’t in this. Or making awesome X-Men references.

Mystique and Destiny are going to get married! So I guess once Destiny’s memories of giving birth to Kurt are unlocked, and her & Raven discuss everything, they get married!

I do love how the Marvel Voices Pride logo is on the cover, as a warning to all of the bros out there.

Odd group of wedding guests. I imagine it’ll just be Kurt, Rogue, and Gambit in reality.

Sabretooth War finally ends in Wolverine 50

Actually, everything X-related ends in May!
(now we’re onto the good stuff!)

Fall of the House of X 5 of 5

Cyclops and Storm have joined the fight, so of course, Orchsis is going down.

The Storm Breaker logo (whatever that is) is blocking Kate Pryde, but she’s on the cover.

Rise of the Powers of X 5 of 5

Jean is back, and she’s mad.

X-Men 34 has what appears to be a series retrospective cover.

I’m going to have to check out the Shadowcat Marvel Masterpieces III cover!

Cassara refuses to draw Lockheed properly on a cover 😀

I also don’t love that Kate and Illyana are nowhere near each other on the cover.

Invincible Iron Man 18 has Tony Stark and Magneto teaming up.

X-Men Forever 3 and 4 come out to close out this miniseries.

Ms. Marvel : Mutant Menace 3 has Kamala fighting off Zombie X-Men!

Weapon X-Men 3 and 4 come out to conclude that mini.

X-Men 97 3 of 4, the prelude to the animated series.

Cable 4 of 4, hopefully the mini continues how fun the first issue was. The Neocracy are still the threat, which makes sense, but hopefully I care more about them by then. I really enjoyed the relationship between the two Cables, and want more of that.

Wolverine : Madripoor Knights 4 of 5, the first issue was fun.

New Mutants 98 is getting a reprint, again. Deadpool’s first appearance.

Avengers Annual 10 is being reprinted, Rogue’s first appearance.

Night Thrasher 4 of 4, apparently the first issue had some New Warriors content, so that’s nice.

Power Pack Into the Storm 5 of 5, hopefully we get more Power Pack content going forward.

Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver 4 of 4 concludes

. . .

Apparently Marvel got permission to reprint their Godzilla comics, so that’s pretty cool. Should buy those just for the collector aspect.

They keep reprinting Spider-Man omnibi, but can’t give us a DeMatteis/Buscema Spectacular Spider-Man omnibus?! Ridiculous

NYX The Gallery Edition HC?! for $50?! I thought we all agreed to acknowledge it was the series that introduced Laura Kinney to the proper Marvel Universe, but that we pretty much ignore it at this point.

Dark X-Men : The Mercy Crown, Madelyne Pryor’s X-Men trade, for $20, I’ll recommend buying it.

Uncanny Spider-Man : Fall of X, for $25, please buy this, Nightcrawler made such a great Spider-Man!

Sins of Sinister Omnibus for $50, is a hard pass for me.

Realm of X for $18, if you can get it in a library, it has some nice moments, but I think it will never get referenced again. We’ll have to see if Magik uses light magic going forward. I doubt it.

Peach Momoko’s Demon Saga : Demon Days for $14, I’m going to buy this. Well, maybe not this version as its in black and white, and that sounds cool, but I think I want to read it as it originally came out.

May 2024 Posters do not include X-Men V6 32, so not buying any of those.

wait, where is the solicts for Blood Ties Magik and the other X-Ladies?!

Marvel.com got me!

https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/x-men-blood-hunt-one-shots-magik-jubilee-psylocke-wolverine?linkId=330794953

Magik gets a Blood Tie oneshot!

X-MEN: BLOOD HUNT – MAGIK #1
Written by ASHLEY ALLEN
Art by JESÚS HERVÁS
Cover by ROD REIS
On Sale 6/26

Magik raises hell! Illyana Rasputina has returned to her homeland to search her soul and steel it for what comes next. But how will she protect her first home when a vampire army descends on Russia, seeking to turn it into a living hell? She may have been forged in the fires of Limbo, but has it prepared her for the Blood Hunt?

As does Wolverine, Jubilee, and Psylocke.

Also, Stormbreakers is the name of Marvel’s spotlight artist, so that’s good to know.

. . .

So comics I am excited to read :

Blood Ties : Magik

Fall of the House of X 5

Rise of the Powers of X 5 (not overly excited)

Ms. Marvel : Mutant Menace 4

X-Men V6 34

X-Men Wedding Special V3 1

Ultimate X-Men V2 3

and Strange Academy, IF Magik is in it.

Six comics, doesn’t seem too bad.

Sweethearts

Posted by John Klein III on February 14, 2024
Posted in: Uncategorized. Leave a comment

Story time with Old Dad

(I mostly just have to finally get this out of my own head)

Back in early high school, my father bought a Costco size box of Sweethearts.

My sister open the package, and gave me a box.

Which was nice of her.

No less than two minutes later, my father is losing his shit because he wanted my mother to get the first box.

of course, not letting anyone else know that is the plan.

I made the decision right then that I wouldn’t be grabbing another box, and apparently no one else did.

Hours later, my mom comes home, of course, not caring that the package was open.

Valentine’s Day comes along, and my father questions aloud why no one has grabbed another box.

Anyway, almost 25 years later, I still haven’t been tempted to eat a Sweetheart, nor bought a box for anyone else (or been given one, now that I think of it)

But I’ve been thinking about them a lot, now that they’re all over stores again.

Well, Happy Valentine’s Day, and enjoy those Sweethearts, if you can

To this day, I’m still cautious about being the first one to do something : from opening a box of cookies or grabbing something at a potluck, or signing a card.

Now that I’ve expressed this, next time I have the thought, I know I wrote it down, and released it.

Rosenberg’s Astonishing X-Men Run in 240 characters

Posted by John Klein III on February 8, 2024
Posted in: Retrospective. Tagged: , . Leave a comment

I’ve started my next Twitter project – reading all of Matthew Rosenberg’s X-Men runs, starting with his Astonishing X-Men Volume Four run.

a quicker one this time

Best X Issues of 2024 – January

Posted by John Klein III on February 2, 2024
Posted in: Best Of X Issues. Tagged: . Leave a comment

To make tracking what was the best X-related comics of 2024 easier, I’m making a handy monthly update post. Be fun to see who started out early, and who makes it to the end.

As of January 31, 2024 –

  1. Dead X-Men 1
  2. Spider-Gwen Smash 2
  3. Resurrection of Magneto 1
  4. Cable V5 1
  5. Fall of House of X 1
  6. Invincible Iron Man V5 14
  7. Rise of the Powers of X 1
  8. X-Men V6 30

Going to be fun once we get 10 issues

X-Men Second Coming in under 240 Characters

Posted by John Klein III on January 31, 2024
Posted in: Retrospective. Tagged: . Leave a comment

With all of the talk of Fall of the House of X, and Rise of the Powers of X, people have been referencing the Messiah Trilogy – Messiah Complex, Messiah War (crossover between Cable and X-Force), and Second Coming. Kitty nor Magik are in the first two parts, but Magik shows up quite a bit in the beginning of Second Coming – until she’s taken off the board, and then, she’s the fetch quest in X-Men : Second Coming – Hellbound. Which she’s barely in, and is rescued, and then doesn’t even appear in the final chapter of Second Coming. Kitty only appears twice in it, and this is the crossover that happens right after Magneto has brought her back to Earth, rescuing her from the bullet. So she’s in a containment fish tank. 

So here’s my Twitter recap of the mostly Magik and Kitty appearances during Second Coming. 

Mostly, this is a holding pattern for my next big X-Twitter project that I’ll hint at more as we get closer to it.

So that’s pretty much it.