Solicitations For July 2010 (Marvel)

I'm taking a day off from work and studies today. Down with the cold. Saw "Kick Ass" in the theatres in between classes yesterday. It was supposedly very funny but I couldn't laugh because of my cold and the skull-splittin' headache. Mark Millar fans would like this one a lot. Especially Hit Girl. In fact, Hit Girl is the only reason to watch this film.

Anyway, the Marvel Solicitations are up already. There are so many goodies this month that I do not even know where to start - cover images below at the end of this post. First up is Mick Anglo's "Marvelman" is finally getting reprinted after more than half a decade. Most folks (like me) have only heard about how groundbreaking this title was and how it launched the careers of Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. Some have been fortunate enough to have read the Moore/Gaiman issues. Nearly everyone else do not even know that there was a pre-Moore/Gaiman "Marvelman" by Mick Anglo. Thanks to Marvel, the old B&W stuff from the 1950s are finally made available. Speaking of classic reprints, Marvel is finally, finally, finally releasing the full "Dark Phoenix Saga" in a huge hardcover collection. This is not just the best X-Men storyarc ever, it's possibly among the best comic story ever published in the entire history of the human race. If you have not read this one, this is your chance to own it in an oversized deluxe hardcover collection. Also, the entire Mark Gruenwald "Squadron Supreme" is finally available in an omnibus edition. If you've wowed to groundbreaking "realistic" portrayals of superheroes in Watchmen, Kingdom Come, etc. this is where is all began. I'm definitely placing my order for this one.

Reprints of more recent works include the JMS Thor Hardcover - I missed the entire run so this is a godsend. Other than that, the story that destroyed the Ultimate Universe, ULTIMATUM by Jeph Loeb is also given the oversized hardcover treatment and they are also kind enough to throw in Ultimates 3 for good measure just to show you how bad Jeph Loeb's writing can get. Other than that, Dan Abnett's and Andy Lanning's cosmic epics continue with the Realm of Kings hardcover. If you're not into spacey stuff, go pick up Ed Brubaker's and Steve Epting's The Marvels Project hardcover for the origin of the Golden Age Marvel characters.

On the monthlies, Joe Quesada is back on another project to piss off many more Spidey fans. It's the sequel to ONE MORE DAY revealing just what happened between Peter, MJ, Aunt May and Mephisto. And no, it's not one big orgy although it's probably just as ugly and obscene. What looks like an orgy, on the other hand, are the two new X-minis. The first is evidence that Chris Claremont is a porn-addict as he teams up with famed erotica-artist Milo Manara on the long-awaited X-Women. The second is the X-Force: Sex And Violence mini featuring Wolverine and Domino.Another long-awaited return is Allan Heinberg's return to the Young Avengers. He's again paired with Jim Cheung and they are releasing the bi-monthly Avengers: The Children's Crusade. It'll be a 9-issue mini and if it's anything like their first 12-issue run, I'm definitely on for the entire run.

That's it for this post. I don't have the time or energy to talk about DC stuff today. Getting back to bed now... *yawn*

Solicitations For June 2010

DC solicitations for June 2010 are up. The only collection that interest me is the hardcover collecting Geoff Johns' and Gary Frank's "Superman: Secret Origin". This look to be the definitive origin of the Man of Steel for years to come so it's a milestone in DC history. My daughter would definitely be interested in Bryan Q. Miller's "Batgirl Rising" TPB (collecting the first 7 issues of the ongoing). As for the single issues, it looks like anniversary month over at DC. Grant Morrison returns to "Batman" with issue #700, while JMS takes over both "Superman" (with issue #700) and "Wonder Woman" (with issue #600). Do they plan these things, or are the numberings merely a happy coincidence? All three issues are 56-pages thick - a far cry from Marvel's recent gigantic-sized anniversary issues for Hulk, Cap, DD, Thor and Spidey. Finally, the "Superman vs. Muhammad Ali" piece of crap with great art by Neal Adams is now given both the fascimile edition and hardcover treatment. I'm a huge fan of Neal Adams but even I'm not going to pick this up. It was silly when it first came out and it's still silly today. Times have certainly changed. When the Superman movie was released in the late 1970s, can you believe that this piece of crap was the only comic that was promoted as a tie-in merchandise?

The latest Marvel solicitations (June 2010) are up and there are so many great stuff to choose from that I don't even know where to begin. First up are all the new "Heroic Age" titles such as the ongoing "Hawkeye & Mockingbird" series and other Avenger-y stuff. Even Bob Layton is back to give us another dose of his "Hercules: Prince of Power" stuff in a miniseries entitled "Hercules: Twilight of a God". Also, Roy Thomas' and Dick Giordano's "Dracula" is finally being released in a coloured edition and the old "Tomb of Dracula" is getting the TPB treatment (for folks who passed up on the B&W Essentials reprints or the pricey Omnibus editions). On the cosmic side, Thanos is finally back in the miniseries entitled "The Thanos Imperative" by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning. My wife and kids will also be delighted to know that Tom DeFalco is back to help celebrate "Spider-Ham's 25th Anniversary" - and a special digest sized collection of old "Spider-Ham" stuff will be released as well!

What really caught my eye, on the other hand, is the humongous "Ghost Rider Omnibus" collecting the entire Jason Aaron run (including the miniseries "Heaven's On Fire"). I've heard great things about Aaron's run but have yet to pick up any of the issues of TPBs. Being a sucker for huge hardcovers - I'll most likely grab this one to read (after my Law Exams in May). The other Jason Aaron work reprinted in hardcover is the first arc from "PunisherMax" featuring a never-before-seen origin of the Kingpin.

Other interesting collections include "X-Necrosha", one of the better X-stories in recent years. Also, Kurt Busiek's sequel to "Marvels" with Jay Anacleto ("Eye of the Camera") is finally in a hardcover. I'm surprised by how little people are talking about this series. Busiek's original miniseries with a young Alex Ross set the industry on fire in the 1990s. Also, Jay Anacleto was probably the most exciting artist in the late 1990s when he worked on "Aria" over at Image. Other reprints of recent stuff include the 4th volume of "Guardians of the Galaxy" and the final volume of Duane Swierczynski's "Cable" (leading into "Second Coming").

Another golden collection is the better-late-than-never hardcover "Avengers: Under Siege" from Roger Stern and the late "Big" John Buscema. I got the original issues and the TPB. This, to me, was the quintessential Avengers run - ranking all the way up there with Roy Thomas' and Steve Englehart's stories. In fact, if Marvel had some sense, they should start reprinting the entire Roger Stern run on the Avengers in "Visionaries" TPBs like they did with John Byrne's "Fantastic Four" or Peter David's "Hulk". Speaking of Steve Englehart, I'm glad to see that his original "Vision and the Scarlet Witch" maxiseries is finally reprinted in a TPB as well. That was the quirky classic love story between a hot-but-insane witch and a household appliance - resulting in two "imaginary" kids who have since grown up to be Young Avengers! :)

Straczynski On Monthly Superman and Wonder Woman

This just came in: DC announced that J. Michael Straczynski will be taking over both the Superman and Wonder Woman monthly series - as of Superman #701 and Wonder Woman #601 (immediately after the anniversary issues).

I remember several years ago that JMS mentioned in a Wizard interview how he'd willingly crawl naked over broken glass and vomit for the chance to chronicle the monthly adventures of the Man of Steel. Guess this really is a dream come true for him. My take on JMS is that he's really a very good writer when he puts his mind to it. His run on "Amazing Spider-Man" is still a highlight for me. I also read his "Supreme Power" but was a little underwhelmed and ended up giving away all the hardcover collections - primarily because he did not finish what he set out to do. Speaking of that, JMS has this annoying habit of not finishing series that he started - case in point, the aforementioned "Supreme Power/Squadron Supreme" series, the earlier "Rising Stars" stuff from Top Cow and also "The Twelve" at Marvel. He can also be uncooperative and egotistical at times - as evidenced by his not-so-graceful exit from the critically acclaimed "Thor" because of his unwillingness to be part of the "Siege" crossover. A writer's writer, to me, is someone like Peter David who could work his magic no matter what is thrown his way - see how he seemlessly work his wonders on the monthly "X-Factor" even when the title crosses over with the other X-books in "Messiah CompleX".

Well, all in all, I'm hoping that JMS will be a little more committed to the Superman title seeing as this is his childhood dream come true. I'm not so confident about his take on Wonder Woman though. Gail Simone was doing the best run on the title since Greg Rucka and now she's been taken off the book to make way for JMS. Wonder Woman is a difficult book to write, no matter how you cut it. Probably DC thought that JMS could do a good combo of the everyday-world-meets-mythology as he did over on "Thor"? I'm just hoping that he doesn't come up with humongous ideas (as he is known for) and then abandon the title when he runs out of steam...

For more on JMS's take on the two DC icons, check out this article over at Comic Book Resources. Also, read an original essay by JMS on Superman at Newsarama.