Publisher Marvel Comics - Review

Marvel Girl 1

I can’t quite work this out: it seems to be set pretty early in X-Men continuity, presumably to link in to the new movie set back then, but it sets up Jean as, in Professor X’s words, “one of the strongest beings on the planet,” which was certainly not the case in the original run of X-Men comics.

Avengers vs New Ultimates 1

This confused the hell out of me. The banner at the top, where we expect the title to be, says Ultimate Death of Spider-Man; at the bottom it says Avengers vs New Ultimates 1. Fortunately I didn’t have to work out what it was, since it’s by Mark Millar so an automatic buy for me. It’s a good thing that that was my reason, since there is no detectable connection to the upcoming death of Spider-Man.

Power Man and Iron Fist 1

I’m trying lots of new titles these days. Despite liking the old title, many, many years ago (an oddly charming run, I thought), the crappy cover here nearly put me off.

Ultimate Spider-Man 153

Like the first issue of Avengers vs New Ultimates, this has a Death of Spider-Man banner; at least this comic has Spider-Man in it, and I suppose this story actually is the lead-in towards that death. Certainly the threat level is vast enough, since it involves some artefact with wishing powers, with no implied limits on it – maybe that level of danger will in due course drag in the big teams.

Magneto 1

I’ve read a few one-offs lately where the purpose of their existence is unclear. I am imagining editors deciding they want, say, a Magneto one-shot and handing the job to someone, ignoring their protests that they have zero ideas as to what to do with one issue with that character.

Invincible Iron Man 500.1

This is the first of Marvel’s .1 sequence of issues over the next couple of months, intended to provide jumping-on points for new readers. I plan on trying most of them, as they will be new to me. I’ll be interested to see if they really are comprehensible for someone who has been out of touch for ages on most of the Marvel Universe, and interested to see how many keep me coming back for the subsequent issues.

Wolverine Goes to Hell

Deeply unimpressed as I was by Aaron’s start on Ultimate Captain America, this bargain collection of the first three issues of his Wolverine tempted me to try again. It is better, but I am still not terribly keen.

Ultimate Avengers v3 #6

I’ve enjoyed this series. I said in a recent Shazam! review that I think writers taking on existing characters need to think about what makes them special, what their particular requirements and opportunities are. I know Mark has created most of these, but clearly the Ultimate characters are variations on established stars.

Invincible Iron Man 500

In which the series undergoes the inevitable switch-over from the innocuous number of 33 to 500, as is the Mighty Marvel Trend with all the marquee names or marquee names-in-waiting, incorporating all the previous Iron Man titles along with mini-series, one-shots, and, what the hell, probably Contest Of The Champions, for the sake of a number redolent of legacy and grandiosity. We should all wear our wrinkles so well.

Daredevil Reborn 1

I start this not knowing why a rebirth is necessary, though I am aware that DD’s own title is presently named Black Panther, The Man Without Fear (not Another Man Without Fear, sadly), so things have clearly changed.