ALL NEW ALL DIFFERENT MARVEL POINT ONE #1: This sampler title gives some bits and pieces from many of the new "All New All Different " titles including AGENTS OF SHIELD, CARNAGE, DAREDEVIL, ALL NEW INHUMANS, and ROCKET RACOON AND GROOT, all wrapped around a framing story highlighting CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS. Creators involved include the writing talents of Al Ewing, Gerry Conway, Skottie Young, Marc Guggenheim, and Charles Soule and Paco Medina, Mike Perkins, Filipe Andrade, Germán Peralta, Stefano Caselli and Ron Garney handling the art chores.
Okay…so this is a mixed bag of stuff here. Some of it, like Daredevil and Carnage, look real interesting while others like Rocket Raccoon and Contest of Champions itself, seem like they won’t exactly be a ton of fun. Since this is basically the first exposure to these titles and they are in small snippets, it’s kind of hard to truly get a feel for them. So, I’ll give them all a one shot anyway.
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1: Even as a commercial from Parker Industry plays, Spider Man and Mockingbird ride in his Spider Mobile as they chase the member of the new Zodiac. After apprehending them, they return to Parker Industries where he changes back to Peter Parker and reveals the details of The Uncle Ben Foundation to the world at a major press conference. He also reveals his Spider man underwear as his zipper was down during the press conference. Jetting to San Francisco, he attends the wedding of Max Modell and his partner Hector, revealing that he has arranged for the Parker Institute of Technology to be renamed Horizon University as a wedding gift. Other members of Zodiac crash the wedding and do battle with Spider Man, currently portrayed by former Prowler Hobie Brown. To save lives, Peter gives them the webware they have come for and allows them to leave. He chastises Sajani for having been in league with Black cat and warns her about even considering it again. She heads to London where we see Anna Maria and her reworked Living Brain-who has Otto Octavius’ brain.
In the second story, Spider Man 2099 gets involved in a bank robbery and ends up being offered a job by Spider Man. The third story involved Silk breaking up a theft by the Goblin nation. She retrieves a stolen safety deposit box and returns it to Black Cat. The fourth story finds a very pregnant having second thoughts about being a parent and talks to her friend Captain Marvel for advise. The fifth story is set in 1602 and features the Web Warriors encountering the Sinister Sextet. The final tale features Miles Morales, the Ultimate Spider Man battling The Ox. He is taken to a Super Max Prison beneath Rykers Island: a prison run by Regent.
What a way to kick off this title! First, we get a thirty-two page main story by Dan Slott and Giuseppe Camunicoli that explodes with beauty and energy. I do have some questions about what and how, especially since we haven’t gotten all of the story from SECRET WARS. But Peter’s empire is now seemingly like Stark Industries, Doc Ock is inside the Living Brain, Spidey has got the former Prowler acting as his double and Mac Modell gets married. I didn’t even know he was GAY! Then we throw in five more short tales, with four of them acting as jumping on points for the new Spider Series and feature the work of Peter David, Will Sliney, Robbie Thompson, Stacey Lee, Dennis Hopeless, Javier Rodriguez, Mike Costa, David Baldeon, Christos Gage and Paco Diaz. This is a HUGE sixty-eight page issue that has a little bit of something for everyone and is actually worth the SIX BUCKS they charged for it!
ANGELA QUEEN OF HEL #1: Angela, formerly Asgard’s Assassin, is now the Queen of Hel and Sera, who is dead, is her Royal Consort. Eight months ago, Angela conquered Hel and dethroned Hela and now she may be executed. But right now, Sera is pissed at Angela for actions in the past.
This is just a confusing mess for me. Marguerite Bennett weaves her magic and I don’t have a clue about what is happening here. Part of that is because I didn’t read the previous title; part of it is that we’re eight months away from the destruction of the old Marvel Universe and still don’t know how we got to where we are in THIS UNIVERSE! And part of it is the confusing relationship between Angela and her lover Sera. We have two artists this issue as Kim Jacinto handles the main story and Stephanie Hans handles what is billed as the “substory”. Okay…so you mean the flashback? Either way, I won’t be running through this Hel again.
THE ASTONISHING ANT-MAN #1: Eight months ago, Scott Lang had moved his business down to Miami and was starving for clients. Today, his team composed of Grizzly and Machinesmith, is booming. Their boss is Ms. Morgenstern, who was once known as Miss Patriot back in the Fifities. Today, she runs a retirement community for costumed folks. We also have the back-story of how Lang’s daughter had her heart taken away by Darren Cross of Cross Technologies. That’s when the Power Broker comes in with his new Hench App. and sends Whirlwind to dispatch Ant-Man. Luckily for Lang this is only a test and Power Broker cancels the hit. So…what does all of this have to do with Scott being back in jail?
So I’m the first to admit that I have no idea what is going on here, as I didn’t read the previous run of this book. I did read the issue that set things up with Lang and his boos, so I kind of have that to work with. I like Nick Spencer’s writing style and his dialogue and cast of characters is a blast. I also happen to like Ramon Rosanas’ artwork. This was a fun read and I may very well keep reading this. There is a reason why I am sampling all the #1 issues because of titles like this one that I was positive I wouldn’t be reading on a regular basis.
AVENGERS #0: At Oracle Inc., the Squadron Supreme looks in on the various Avengers teams. In "Eidetic", the Vision visits the Scarlet Witch and purges his memory of their time together. Captain Marvel and Alpha Flight have an adventure in space in the "In the Beginning" tale. "Everything is New" introduces the Roberto Da Costa led Avengers Idea Mechanics and also Reed Richards-the Supreme One who is also known as The Maker. "The Night That Hell Froze Over" has Deadpool working for Steve Rogers and shows us that Rogue is on life support after being exposed to the Terrigan Mists. "The Opposite of Kicking" features Ms. America as she joins The Ultimates, made up of Captain Marvel, Spectrum, The Blue Marvel and Black Panther.
So this is how Marvel jams their ALL NEW, ALL DIFFERENT Avengers titles at us. With a story by James Robinson and Leonard Kirk that intertwines with the rest of the tales, we get a glimpse at THE NEW AVENGERS, THE VISION, A-FORCE, UNCANNY AVENGERS and THE ULTIMATES. Those stories are by the creative teams of Mark Waid and Mahmud Asrar, G. Willow Wilson and Victor Ibanez, Al Ewing and Gerardo Sandoval, Gerry Duggan and Ryan Stegman, Al Ewing and Kenneth Rocafort. Of this batch, the only one that really makes me sit up and take notice is the one with the LEAST amount of exposition: SQUADRON SUPREME. The rest of the tales just don’t work for me, especially A-FORCE. What’s the deal with Alpha Flight? REALLY? Sure, we’re getting over fifty pages here for six bucks, but nothing as butt-kicking as AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.
CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS #1: We begin with an appearance by The Outlaw (the British Punisher) who gets teleported to a strange world where he helps Iron Man and Gamora kill Venom, Joe Fixit and Devil Dinosaur. After their win, they are teleported to an unknown place where they meet The Collector, The Maestro and Guillotine. Here, they are told that they are part of the Contest Of Champions, they have taken control of the heroes’ lives, and the Collector welcomes them to! Meanwhile, in South Korea, White Fox finds out that one of her super-agents has been killed and vows revenge. In the second story, we see the history of the many people known as Guillotine and see her plucked from her time and place.
So, some time back, Marvel introduced an online game called CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS. This is not so much of a spin-off from that book, but they spent time hyping after the second story. Al Ewing and Paco Medina handle the first story and Ewing and Thomas Labourot handle the second one. Neither one made me jump up and down, although I was interested when they dropped Outlaw into the book! Sorry, I won’t be visiting issue #2.
DOCTOR STRANGE #1: Starting with a brief history lesson, Doctor Strange jumps right into battle with a mystical creature. Unfortunately, he is having problems remembering the spells. He manages to pull it together long enough to save the Soul-Eaters that were possessing a young boy, even if he was kissing a Free Rover. After that, and after dispatching an inter-dimensional Psyche-Leach, he steps into The Bar With No Doors, where he shares drinks with Doctor Voodoo, Shaman and The Scarlet Witch. He also deals with insults and taunts from Monako, the Prince of Magic. In the end, a young woman with a nasty batch of creatures living in her head, pays him a visit. In the backup story, we meet the Imperator and the Empirikul as they try to eliminate all traces of magic.
This book has a bunch of pros and cons. Jason Aaron and Chris Bachalo give us a real unique take on the Sorcerer Supreme, complete with him having a really strange outer body experience with some dialogue that seems more fitting for Tony Stark than Stephen Strange. Bachalo’s artwork is his usual quirky work and I’m good with that. The backup, by Aaron and Kevin Nowlan, will eventually make sense, I’m sure. But for now, it’s just a page filler.Bottom line: I’ll give this another issue or two anyway to see where it is going. And that’s saying a lot as I haven’t been a fan of the last few attempts to make this character work in his own series.
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1: We begin in the Negative Zone, where Annihilus and the Queen of the Brood discuss how to divide the galaxy when they conquer it. Meanwhile, somewhere in the Milky Way, the Guardians of the Galaxy, The Thing, Groot, Venom, Rocket Racoon, Drax and Kitty Pryde Star Lord, battle the Chitauri Empire. On the Planet Spartix, Peter Quill is dealing with being a diplomat. A short time later, the Guardians land on Spartix, as does a defeated Gamora and Hala, who is looking to destroy Peter.
I’ll be totally up front and say that I wasn’t reading the last run of this title because I still have issues with this NOT being MY Guardians. Plus, the whole MEGA MOVIE thing that Marvel ran with in the form of a comic pissed me off. But this book is ALMOST enough to get me reading it. Brian Michael Bendis writes a fun, simple, and highly entertaining tale and the art of Valerio Schiti is great! Again, I may actually keep this title in my list, even if it is only to figure out how Ben Grimm ends up on this team.
HOWLING COMMANDOS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. #1: Dum Dum Duggan is dead, but he continues to live because of a seemingly unending supply of LMD’s to transfer his conscious into. Maria Hill creates a team of Howling Commandos made up of a zombified Jasper Sitwell, Manphibian, Vampire by Night, Teen Abomination, Orrgo, Man-Thing and Hit-Monkey. Out in the Atlantic, the S.S. Chaney is under attack by it’s own crew that has been turned into monsters by a cursed idol. Luckily Duggan and his team have arrived to battle them and defeat them. Unfortunately, a zombified Jasper Sitwell blows up Duggan, forcing him to resurrect in a new body.
And yes, this book is as weird as I thought it would be. The team of Frank J. Barbiere and Brent Schoonover have taken the monsters of the Marvel Universe and teamed them up with two classic S.H.I.E.L.D. members, albeit in a new form, and brought them together as S.T.A.K.E. The writing is interesting while the art is trying to look like something out of the Seventies. Picture Don Heck, Mike Ploog and Frank Robbins coming together as one, although Schoonover can’t pull that off. While I like seeing these characters in action, I’m still on the fence about the title. It has potential, but it needs more than just what we have been given here.
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1: In his lab/workshop, Tony Stark creates a new version of his armor that merges all of his different modes into one. Meanwhile, someone who once worked for A.I.M. delivers a briefcase to Madame Masque, who kills him afterwards. Later, she leads an attack on Stark Tower in Japan, causing Tony to leave his date with Dr. Amara Perera, who once created a cure for the mutant gene. That takes him to Latveria where he finds a very handsome and undamaged Victor Von Doom waiting for him in what used to be his castle.
Thank you Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez for bringing back a Tony Stark who isn’t a total dick! Granted, I liked the weird places the SUPERIOR IRON MAN series took our hero, but his descent into a total dickhead was just hard to watch. So, we have to assume that whatever happened during SECRET WARS has changed him. For all we know, this is the OTHER TONY STARK. Either way, we have a fun filled first issue with the return of Victor Von Doom AND Whitney Frost. I will most definitely be back for more of this book!
KARNAK #1: Karnak has managed to escape from the afterlife to find that the world he once knew isn’t what it once was. He is no longer the advisor to the throne of New Attilan. Instead, he he has become the Magister of the Tower of Wisdom, where he is attempting to teach all who come to him. He goes off to try and rescue a young boy affected by the Terrigen Mists and that leads him to Berlin where he uses his great power to teach responsibility.
I have to say this was one of my most anticipated new Marvel titles and it doesn’t disappoint. You have the writing, the always-enigmatic writing, of the great Warren Ellis and that is reason alone to buy this book. But couple with that with the moody art of Gerardo Zaffino and this book is a dream. This is not your regular superhero title: this takes the concept of the lone wolf hero and spins it around. Karnak was always a loyal member of the original Inhumans. But now, he is truly on his own and blowing down doors. This is my favorite new Marvel release so far!
NEW AVENGERS #1: The team, composed of Wiccan, White Tiger, Power Man, Songbird, Hulkiling, Squirrel Girl and Tippy Toe are on their way to France where men and women have been tuned into crystal-headed creatures. Whewn they arrive, they get into a battle, unaware that they are being watched on Nanocams by The Maker: Reed Richards. Meanwhile, Roberto DaCosta, current leader of A.I.M., meets with Dum Dum Duggan who introduces DaCosta to the S.H.I.E.L.D. mandated addition to the New Avengers: Hawkeye…the Clint Barton Hawkeye.
Yeah…NO! Even the apparent addition of the Ultimate Reed Richards as the villain to this series won’t get me to but this book again. It’s a team filled with C List heroes and run by a guy who used to be a New Mutant. Al Ewing’s story did nothing to drag me in to find out more about this team and Gerardo Sandoval’s quirky painted art came off as someone’s version of a bad Rob Leifeld copy. Nope…no coming back for this one.
SAM WILSON CAPTAIN AMERICA #1: Steve Rogers replacement gets booted from S.H.I.E.L.D., sets up a special hotline and goes off on his own. With the help of his latest love interest Misty Knoight and D Man, he fights injustice and the Sons of the Serpent. That is up until Steve Rogers arrives and orders him to stand down.
I hate Sam Wilson as Captain America way more than I ever did hate Bucky Barnes as Captain America and that’s a whole lot! I could barely get through this issue as it wallowed in it’s own foolishness. Wilson is still filled with that militant attitude he had back in the Seventies and I kept waiting for him to stand up and shout “Black lives matter!” Nick Spencer delivers a true stinker here and the art of Daniel Acuna can’t even begin to save it.
SPIDER-GWEN #1: Gwen is off to work on her first day at the Dollar Dog to find out the place had been trashed the night before by The Lizard. But that’s impossible because Peter Parker was The Lizard and he’s dead. She figures out that Professor Curtis Connors has used his experiments to turn other people into lizard creatures and goes after them. Captain America saves Spider Woman just when things look bad. Meanwhile, Captain Stacey meets with Jean DeWolfe to discuss how he is going to solves the murder of Peter Parker, even is his boss Frank Castle doesn’t want it to be that way.
Yes, I realize this is the darling of the comic industry now, but I still don’t like the character or the book. It has nothing to do with Jason Latour’s writing or Robbi Rodriguez’ art. It has to do that the character I knew and loved died in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #121 and no alternate version, retconned version, cloned version will make me feel otherwise. I understand this is part of another Earth, or at least it was before the universes ended, but I can really do without it. The whole thing feels like a bad issue of WHAT IF. If you were a fan before SECRET WARS, then go out and buy this.
SPIDER-MAN 2099 #1: Miguel O’Hara, displaced hero from another time and place, is competing on the reality show NINJA USA, much to the dismay of his boss Peter Parker. Miguel, however, gets very happy when he discovers that his team has managed to shut down funding for the Alchemax Prison. He leaves his team and meets with his Lyrate life-form approximation holographic assistant named Lyla. Opening a sealed door, Miguel steps into 2099 to find out that that time is still destroyed, meaning that Alchemax isn’t responsible for it. The folks at Alchemax, inclusing former super villain The Scorprion, meet with someone from the Department of Internal Security to discuss alternatives to the now cancelled prison. Later, during a dinner date with Tempest in which she reveals she is pregnant, a car crashes into the restaurant as part of a terrorist assault. Unfortunately, it looks as though Tempest may be dead, meaning Miguel will have anew mission.
I could tell you everything I know about Miguel O’Hara in about 45 seconds. I wasn’t a huge fan of the book or the 2099 series and basically thought DOOM 2099 was the best book, mostly because of Pat Broderick’s art. And I know that Miguel is stranded here following the events in both the SpiderVerse drama and SECRET WARS and, as we learned in AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #1, is working for Peter Parker and Parker Industries. What is cool about this book is that his creator Peter David is writing the series, so I can tell you that makes it that much better than it should be. Will Sliney’s art is okay, but why does it seem that much of the ALL-NEW, ALL DIFFERENT MARVEL wants to look like Image did, circa 1992. This title should succeed, as all of the Spider Man books are hot right now. Will I buy it? Probably not, but only because my late is pretty full and there’s just two many Spider books for me now.
UNCANNY AVENGERS #1: The Uncanny team members, Steve Rogers, Deadpool, Doctor Voodoo, Synapse, Rogue and Johnny Storm, are battling a new Super Adaptoid that, unfortunately for him, tries to take Deadpool’s powers and dies. In the aftermath, Spider Man quits, which leads to Rogers calling a news conference to give the world a warm feeling about his team. Afterwards, Johnny tries to convince Spider man to say, but fails. The team then heads to their secret lair in an old theater and Rogue takes medicine to counter-act her exposure to the Terrigen Mists. Meanwhile, Pietro and Synapse go world hopping on a date, before summoning the team to battle creatures in Boston.
It’s Gerry Duggan and Ryan Stegman and a totally different Avengers team Anyway, the story is just okay, as I don’t fault Duggan for not liking the book. My issues are with the characters of an OLD Steve Rogers and just any book with Deadpool in it. And who is Synapse? Stegman’s art is a bit on the outside of my tastes in a superhero title and that just adds to my dislike of this title.
UNCANNY INHUMANS #1: Reader, Black Bolt and Triton are visiting the Attilan of thirty thousand years ago when Kang the Conqueror arrives. This leads them to October of 1961 where all hell breaks loose, causing the trio to time jump back into the present day. Meanwhile, Madusa meets with Hank McCoy to discuss the current situation regarding the influx of new Inhumans. Then she meets with her latest paramour, Johnny Storm. Unfortunately, her husband is watching it happen. In the back-up story, Agent Frank McGee helps the Inhumans rescue a girl from her captors in Morocco. And Gorgon calls his cousin Crystal to inquire about his son. And why is Gorgon confined to a wheelchair?
Okay…I’m hooked! First off, it’s Charles Soule and Steve McNiven. How can you go wrong there? And right off the bat, we drop in Kang the Conqueror AND a little infidelity in the form of Madusa and Johnny Storm getting busy! Wow! And then we get a taste of a future story from Soule and Brandon Peterson which only manages to give us a tease of something coming…hopefully soon! This book is amazing, as it has old and new characters, twists and turns and just out and out rocks! Add this to your list because even though it looks like the Inhumans movie is getting pushed back, they will be in the front of the Marvel Universe for some time to come.
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