Monday, September 20, 2021

More first issues

ALIENS AFTERMATH #1 by Benjamin Percy and Dave Watchter. The ALIEN franchise is red-hot once again and that leads Marvel back to one of the classics in the film series. Set 35 years after the end of ALIENS, a team is sent back to Hadley’s Hope. And it’s personal for one soldier, whose aunt was Vasquez. The story is fun, the art is nice, and it makes a cool connection to the original film. And of course…we have a cliffhanger!

AMAZING FANTASY #1 by Kaare Andrews. A teenaged Spider-Man, World War II vintage Captain America and Russian spy Black Widow team up in a weird alternate reality filled with dangers galore. While the story is quirky, Andrews’ art is great! This title is truly not for everyone, as it goes into some strange places. Plus, it’s worth checking out, if only for Andrews’ art.

AVENGERS/HULK FCBD 2021 by Jason Aaron, Donny Cates, Iban Coello and Ryan Ottley. Marvel previews the next arcs for THE AVENGERS and THE HULK with these two short stories setting up the new creative teams. The Avengers tale gives us an army of Deathloks while M.O.D.O.K. goes through a transformation in the Hulk tale. There should be plenty of these to go around from your retailer, so you might want to grab one and see what the future holds.

DARK AGES #1 by Tom Taylor and Iban Coello.What happens when the sun goes dark in the Marvel Universe. Well, first you have to realize this is an alternate Marvel Universe where Peter and Mary Jane are married and have a super powered daughter. Filled with a whole bunch of Marvel heroes, it’s a fun trip…but one which has no bearing on OUR Marvel Universe. So, if you’re expecting this to have a huge effect on current stories, you’d be wrong. Still, it’s a great deal of fun!

DARK BLOOD #1 by Latoya Morgan and Walt Barna. Meet Avery Aldridge. He’s a black man in 1955 Alabama and is not only facing racism but a robbery. That’s when his powers, called The Variance, erupts. Ten yeas earlier, he was fighting Nazis. So…where does this lead? Good question! But there is enough here, regarding his powers and their origin, to bring me back for a second issue.

DARKHAWK #1 by Kyle Higgins and Juanan Ramirez. Darkhawk gets another relaunch in this mini-series where a new hero gets the mantle. Chris Powell is out and Connor Young, a teen with MS, is in. Either way, it feels like a rehash of a classic Nineties series and did nothing for me. The story was predictable, the art was choppy and I won’t be following along with this. It just did nothing for me.

DEFENDERS #1 by Al Ewing and Javier Rodriguez. Marvel’s original non-team is back with a new cast of characters…sort of. The Surfer and Doctor Strange are back with the team along with new members The Masked Rider, Harpy and Cloud. Ewing’s story is fun but Rodriguez’ artwork is the real star here. I expect this to be a fun ride as the cast list is cool and, being a long-time Defenders fan, I may be prejudiced.

EXTREME CARNAGE ALPHA by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Manuel Garcia. So, there’s a new VENOM film coming, and Carnage is the co-star, so that means Marvel needs a book which capitalizes on that. The big red bad guy is back and, by the way, so is Flash Thompson, who was dead but now isn’t. And let’s not forget the multiple one-shots featuring all the Venom family. It’s fun and a nice set up for what comes next, which is a NEW VENOM title by Al Ewing and a series of connected one-shots featuring the whole Venom family.

FIGHT GIRLS #1 by Frank Cho. Okay…so it’s basically BATTLE ROYALE with buff women. But it’s Frank Cho’s buff women! So the book looks amazing and the story is fun, especially because it’s too early to see where the endgame will take us. AWA Upshot continues to knock it out of the park with a tremendous lineup of mini-series.

KANG THE CONQUEROR #1 by Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly and Carlos Magno. Take two non-comic writers together and let them tell the true origin of Kang? Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? Surprise! It’s REALLY good! It ties together the various histories of Kang, Nathaniel Richards, Iron Lad, the Scarlet Centurian and Rama Tut, it will hopefully make sense of all those iterations of Richards. And Magno’s art looks amazing!

KA-ZAR LORD OF THE SAVAGE LAND #1 by Zac Thompson and German Garcia. I had such high hopes for the series. I really did. But the series will go on to feature Ka-Zar’s son, with Ka-Zar and Shanna being background players. While the story is kind of folksy and fun, Garcia’s art just doesn’t do it for me and I found it hard to truly appreciate the story itself.

KING SPAWN #1  by Todd McFarlane, Sean Lewis, Javi Fernandez, Stephen Segovia, Marcio Takara, Phillip Tan and Brett Booth. Spawn fans rejoice! The first new SPAWN title in years and the first of three, with GUNSLINGER SPAWN coming in October and THE SCORCHED coming in December. There are a lot of familiar characters here for regular readers and a lot of new ones for those just jumping back into the Spawn Universe, like myself. Stories feature King Spawn, Haunt, Nightmare, The Hero and Gunslinger, so you’ve got a lot to digest.

MAZEBOOK #1 by Jeff Lemire. Here’s a book you will either love or hate. Lemire’s SWEET TOOTH was a major hit, despite his quirky art style. This is a tale of a 50-year-old man going through a major mid-life crisis revolving around his 11-year-old daughter. This sends him on a search for her and for his own wellbeing. Again, it’s not for everyone but will probably be a great heartbreaking piece in the end.

MOON KNIGHT #1 by Jed MacKay and Alessandro Cappuccio. Everyone’s favorite multiple personality hero is back, with a therapist, a secretary and a fight against vampires. He also meets another follower of Khonshu who may be an ally or an adversary. MacKay’s dialogue is a bit clunky, but the story is intriguing and the art is cool and fits the narrative.

MOTHER OF MADNESS #1 by Emelia Clarke, Marguerite Bennett and Leila Leiz. It’s the Year 2049 and the world is more close-minded, sexist and chauvinistic than ever before. Maya Kuyper is single mom with special powers brought on by emotions. And to that end, she’s trying to fight the good fight for women and the disadvantaged. This three-issue series is certainly a bit preachy and will certainly cause concern for those folks troubled by Social Justice Warriors. In the end, it’s fun and has a big heart with some cool, quirky artwork.

NOT ALL ROBOTS #1 by Mark Russell and Mike Deodato Jr. It’s the future and robots do everything for us. But the robots are not happy and an uprising appears to be looming. I know it sounds familiar, but this is told mostly from the robot’s points of view. Russell’s writing is sharp and filled with some great moments and Deodato again knocks it out of the park with his art. AWA Upshot hits anther home run with this great mini-series.

PRIMORDIAL #1 by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino. What happened to those first test animals that were shot into space back in the day. The US and Russians say they died, but did they? Someone wants to find out and he may not like what he finds in the end. A curious little story that has a great cliffhanger ending to woo us into the next issue. Highly recommended!

SINISTER WAR #1 by Nick Spencer and Mark Bagley. Spencer’s Spider-Man run all comes down to this. The Savage Six are coming for a reformed Mysterio but the reformed Sinister Six is here to back him up. And let’s not forget about a certain Harry Osborn and then there’s Mephisto who may be looking to cash in on what Peter owes him. This will all lead to Spencer’s swan song issue where Ben Reilly returns as Spider-Man. Who lives, who dies? It all starts here!

SPIDER-MAN/VENOM FCBD 2021 by Zeb Wells, Ram V., Al Ewing, Chip Zdarsky, Patrick Gleason, Bryan Hitch and Greg Smallwood. Peter Parker is soon to be out as Spider-Man and Ben Reilly steps in. This is the first look at the new hero and his cast of characters. Plus, the new Venom series, which focuses on Eddie Brock and son in their dual missions. Plus, a bonus look at the future of Daredevil. Worth picking up to get a glimpse at the future of these corners of the Marvel Universe.

SPIDER-MAN: A LIFE STORY ANNUAL #1 by Chip Zdarsky and Mark Bagley. In the alternate story of Spider-Man, Peter’s life turned out much different than we are used to and fans were divided on how they felt about it. In this one-shot annual, we look a JJJ as he battles the inner demons he faced because of Spider-Man’s actions. A great story and a surprise twist or two. If you liked the LIFE STORY series, you’ll love this!

STRAY DOGS #1 by Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner.This looks like a cute funny animal book from the MY LITTLE PONY team. But it ain’t! It’s been called, not by me, ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN meets SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and that’s a pretty accurate description. It’s a touching, scary kind of book with a host of dogs and a possible killer. This book is on fire, but you may be able to pick up copies of the multiple printings at a decent price. Plus, the multiple printing variant takes on classic horror films is pretty cool! And don’t forget to ty to track down the FCBD special that features a new prequel story.

X-MEN #1 by Gerry Duggan and Pepe Larraz. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I as writing about a new X-Men title. Another year, another reboot with a new team made up of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Sunfire, Synch, Wolverine(X-23), Polaris and Rogue. It’s the same old stuff and just shows how far this once great title has drifted as there are just too many X books on the stands. Let’s be honest: the Eighties was a prime time for mutants and now…it’s just a continuing spewing out of mutant titles.

X-MEN: THE TRIAL OF MAGNETO #1 by Leah Williams and Lucas Wernick. SPOILER: The Scarlet Witch is dead and someone did it. And the clues seem to point to Magneto. But did he really kill his own daughter? That’s what this mini-series will try to unravel. But let’s be honest: no one REALLY stays dead in comics and especially someone so critical to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So, in the end, it may make a big difference in the status quo, but I feel this may just be a set up for future stories.

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