Highlights From The Marvel Solicitations For July 2011

Check out the latest Marvel solicitations at Newsarama. Amidst the overkill of "Fear Itself"-related titles, I'm most excited about the new ongoing Daredevil, Ghost Rider and Punisher titles. As for the reprint collections, the following are my selections:

X-MEN BY CHRIS CLAREMONT & JIM LEE OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC

Written by CHRIS CLAREMONT, TERRY AUSTIN, SALLY PASHKOW, PETER SANDERSON & ANN NOCENTI
Penciled by JIM LEE, MARC SILVESTRI, ROB LIEFELD, MIKE VOSBURG, JIM FERN, MARK BAGLEY, RICK LEONARDI, KIERON DWYER, BILL JAASKA, MIKE COLLINS & WHILCE PORTACIO
Covers by JIM LEE
What happens when you combine an industry veteran at the top of his game with a hot, up-and-coming young artist, and let them loose on Marvel’s mightiest mutants? You get a fan-favorite, multi-year X-Men run unequaled in style, pizzazz and wall-to-wall action! It’s Chris Claremont’s most ambitious story arc ever, featuring Jim Lee’s dynamic debut issues and major changes to the X-Men’s status quo! Jubilee debuts just as the X-Men disband, granted new lives by the Siege Perilous! The Reavers enact gruesome revenge on Wolverine and decimate Muir Island, while Psylocke is transformed into a ninja! The Shadow King makes his play for Storm, culminating in the action-packed introduction of Gambit! Wolverine’s hidden past with Captain America and the Black Widow is revealed! And this is just the first volume! Collecting UNCANNY X-MEN #244-269, X-MEN ANNUAL (1970) #13 and CLASSIC X-MEN #39.
704 PGS./Rated A...$125.00
ISBN: 978-0-7851-5822-6
Trim size: oversized

This is really a no-brainer. The Jim Lee run on the X-titles was Marvel's biggest success in the late 1980s/early 1990s. It's time that we get the whole thing in a high-end Omnibus collection. This looks like the first volume collecting everything from the UXM book before Claremont and Lee relaunch the series with a new #1.

Speaking of X-related omnibus, Jason Aaron's Wolverine books are also collected in an omnibus. Other than that, we also get the "X-Cutioner's Song" storyarc in a huge hardcover. That's about time. I no longer have my TPB so I'll probably pick that up. That's still the best Cable-Stryfe-Apocalypse story ever and is most representative of the X-Men in the 1990s.

X-MEN: X-CUTIONER’S SONG HC
Written by SCOTT LOBDELL, PETER DAVID & FABIAN NICIEZA
Penciled by BRANDON PETERSON, JAE LEE, ANDY KUBERT & GREG CAPULLO
Cover by ANDY KUBERT
The X-Men story so big, it took four books to contain it! When Cyclops and Phoenix are kidnapped — and Cable seemingly assassinates Professor X — the X-Men, X-Factor and X-Force go to war...with each other! Witness epic battles around the globe and on the moon as Mr. Sinister’s subtle plan of vengeance on Apocalypse unfolds, and major revelations are made about the true identities of Cable and his twisted doppelganger Stryfe! Featuring blood, angst, sacrifice and great big guns as Marvel’s mutant families dance to the villains’ twisted tune! Collecting UNCANNY X-MEN #294-297, X-FACTOR (1986) #84-86, X-MEN (1991) #14-16, X-FORCE (1991) #16-18 and STRYFE’S STRIKE FILE.
368 PGS./Rated A ...$49.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-5610-9
Trim size: oversized

Highlights From The December 2010 Marvel Solicitations

These are some goodies that caught my eye in the latest Marvel Solicitations:

THOR BY WALTER SIMONSON OMNIBUS HC

Written by WALTER SIMONSON
Penciled by WALTER SIMONSON with SAL BUSCEMA
Covers by WALTER SIMONSON
Considered by many to be the greatest run on Thor ever, Walt Simonson’s classic tales of the God of Thunder are collected here—completely remastered from the original artwork and newly colored by Steve Oliff! And there are too many timeless tales to count: The Casket of Ancient Winters! The death of Odin! The origins of Asgard! The sacrifice of the Executioner! Thor as a frog! The Mutant Massacre! The curse of Hela! The debut of Thor’s body armor! Guest-starring Beta Ray Bill, Nick Fury and the Avengers! Featuring the threats of Fafnir the dragon, Loki, Lorelei, Malekith the Dark Elf, Surtur, Hela, the Titanium Man, Kurse, Zaniac, the Marauders, the Absorbing Man, Fin Fang Foom, the Destroyer and the Midgard Serpent! Collecting THOR #337-355, #357-369 & #371-382 and BALDER THE BRAVE #1-4.
1192 PGS./Rated A …$125.00
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4633-9
Trim size: oversized
THOR BY WALTER SIMONSON OMNIBUS HC CLASSIC COVER (DM ONLY)
1192 PGS./Rated A …$125.00
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4634-6

X-FORCE: UNDER THE GUN PREMIERE HC

Written by FABIAN NICIEZA & ROB LIEFELD
Penciled by ROB LIEFELD, MARK PACELLA, MIKE MIGNOLA, TERRY SHOEMAKER & GREG CAPULLO
Covers by ROB LIEFELD

X-Force has survived its first fights—but the stakes just keep getting higher, and the villains deadlier! A new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, including Toad and Sauron, has formed and joined forces with the Morlocks, and their frightening attack on our heroes leaves one team member mortally wounded! Plus: the mysteries between Cable and Stryfe deepen, Deadpool goes after Domino and Cable, a government task force comes after X-Force, and one mutant is revealed to be an imposter! And just who are the X-Ternals? Collecting X-FORCE #5-15 and material from X-FORCE ANNUAL #1.
272 PGS./Rated A …$34.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-4985-9
Trim size: standard
X-FORCE: UNDER THE GUN PREMIERE HC — VARIANT EDITION VOL. 61
272 PGS./Rated A …$34.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-5075-6

The two big hardcovers are the only things that really caught my eye. I'm happy that Marvel is finally collecting the Liefeld "X-Force" in hardcovers. Even happier that Simonson's "Thor" is finally available together in one place as a huge omnibus edition. I may not be able to afford any of the above but I'm happy as a lark that they're going to be available in the stores. :)

Finally, my favourite cover from the solicitations has to be the one below (from Strange Tales II #3):

Highlights From The Latest Marvel Solicitations (Oct 2010)

It's the convention season again so Marvel has decided to delay the release of their latest solicitation previews until the big announcements in the convention. Anyway, the latest solicitations are finally up and you can check them out at CBR.

Some of the items that caught my eye are:

• Uncanny X-Force #1 by Rick Remender (Punisher) and Jerome Opena (Moon Knight). Wolverine is leading the X-Force to kill Apocalypse. This is a no-brainer and I'm definitely jumping on board!



• Ultimate Thor #1 by Jonathan Hickman and Carlos Pacheco. Hickman is fast becoming my favourite Marvel writer with his excellent stuff on Fantastic Four and S.H.I.E.L.D. Carlos Pacheco is among my favourite artists ever - check out "Avengers Forever" if you still need to be convinced. But it's Ultimate Thor. I don't know. Thor was my favourite character when I was a kid. Now? Not so much. Maybe the upcoming movie will reignite my love for the Asgardian? Hmmm....



• Chaos War #1 & 2 by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente featuring the return of Hercules. I'm so there already! Thor guest-stars.



• Captain America Lives Omnibus - I'm glad I stayed off the "The Man With No Face", "Road To Reborn" and "Reborn" trades. Marvel is reprinting the whole thing in an omnibus edition. This is a must-have for anyone who had already purchased the first two omnibuses.



• Atlantis Attacks Omnibus - I'm glad to see this huge storyarc finally in an omnibus. It was one of the biggest stories when I was a kid. I read an issue here and an issue there. That's the tragedy of growing up in a town without a comic-retailer. I had to pick up my stuff off the newstand. Anyway, I don't remember much about the story - only that it featured Namor and the Atlanteans flooding the whole Marvel Universe.



• Doomwar Hardcover - The Black Panther/Doom crossover (more accurately Wakanda/Latveria crossover) gets the oversized hardcover treatment. I haven't been following Black Panther for some time so I'm not so sure about this.



• Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty Hardcover - I'll get this one over the Reborn hardcover above. I have a softspot for Mark Waid's Cap and it's good to see his WWII/Invaders stuff from the 1990s finally given the oversized hardcover treatment.



• X-Force: A Force To Be Reckoned With - I've always wondered why the Liefeld X-Force issues have never been reprinted in a hardcover collection. Love him or hate him, no one can deny the impact that Liefeld made in the early 1990s with X-Force. Pick this one up with the Cable hardcover and relive the era of shoulder-pads, ginormous guns and constipated facial expressions.



• Thor: Worldengine - This is the 4-issue arc from the mid-1990s by Warren Ellis and Mike Deodato. I read a review recently saying that Deodato sucked in the 1990s and that he's really good now. I don't know what the reviewer was smoking when he wrote that. Deodato was fantastic in the 1990s. Check out his work with William Messner-Loebs on "Wonder Woman" and "Thor". Time was, Deodato's art was clear and powerful. Time now, he hides behind large shades of inking. Pick this one up for the classic Deodato artwork.

The Death of Cable

The above cover shows Cable carrying a mountain on his back in order to protect his surrogate daughter, Hope. It is reminscent of the Hulk carrying a mountain in Secret Wars to protect the MU heroes. This variant cover to X-Force #28 is everything you need to know about the man Cable - Nathan Christopher Summers. Oh yes, and did I forget to mention that he dies in this issue?

Yes, Cable is finally dead. And what a way to go. Protecting mutantkind, fighting for his beliefs, and giving his life for the daughter that he loves more than life. I'll miss the character. He was the reason I continued reading the X-titles throughout the 1990s and into the present. I guess this is as good a time as any to finally jump off the bandwagon. My favourite X-Man is finally dead.

From the above preview images, Cable died holding up Bastion's time portal, overstraining himself and losing control of the techno-organic virus that ultimately consumed him entirely. What a way to go. As a soldier, mutant messiah-prophet and father.

Cable is the poster boy for mutant-cool. Wolverine and Cyclops can step aside...

How would I like to remember Nathan Christopher Summers? To me, he'll always be the Rob Liefeld Cable from the New Mutants/X-Force books in the early 1990s: