About what happens
When I don’t get in front
of my computer on a Sunday…
It is the sad tale of:
Due to the extreme nature of the life of me, it’s impossible for me to get anything done on Mondays due to work and then The Monday Night Rabble. Then it’s impossible to do anything on Tuesday as I host an Open Mic Night event. Then Wednesday is Lost night. Thursday is free, but by then doesn’t it just seem so far gone from Tuesday?
So last week, Dani was sick so I went and watched Wild Pig Comics for her. No internet, no column. No Tiki”¦ No washy”¦
So we are ready for lots of news and quite possibly… some news?
I sure am!
MARVEL KNIGHTS NO MORE… Mostly
Courtesy of (Newsarama)
That is in fact all you need to know. Starting with Brubaker’s Daredevil run, the Marvel imprint will be folded right back into the standard Marvel U. MK Spidey will become ‘Sensational’ and MK Four will just be ‘Four’.
Following that, the Knights line will be publishing limited series under the Knights banner that will ‘…focus on characters that are off the beaten path…’ The first four announced are:
Silver Surfer: Requiem by J. Michael Straczynski & Esad Ribic (late 2006 or early 2007)
The Spider by Kaare Andrews (late 2006)
Fury: Peacemaker by Garth Ennis & Darick Robertson (February)
Spirit of Vengeance (the original, Western Ghost Rider) by Garth Ennis & Clayton Crain (late 2006).
My opinion? Sounds good to me. Daredevil and MK Spidey are already inserted into standard Marvel Universe, so having them return isn’t that big of a deal. Making the MK line special sounds fine, especially since the standard Marvel U has gotten a bit darker and grittier due to the actions (both direct and extended) of Avengers: Disassembled. The four first books (with maybe the exception of ‘Spider’) all sound to really focus on characters that might get future ongoings. If that’s what MK does now, that’s cool. Wheeeeee evolution.
ASTONISHING RETURNS!
(COurtesy of Newsarama)
Last week there was a big ol’ press conference discussing the future of Astonishing X-Men‘s return. It featured a discussion with Mike Marts, and Mister Buffy Guy himself, Joss Whedon. Here’s the talking points.
– Ish #13 will be out on February 22
– #13 – #17 will be Bi-monthly, #18 – #24 will be monthly
– The books will reference House of M and Civil War, but not be related.
– Whedon will be doing another unnamed Marvel project in ’06
– He inferences Emma as a villain again
(NO!!!!! NO NO NO! *ahem*)
-Then out of nowhere… Whedon agrees with James Hatton:
( As far as Colossus coming back after being cremated, Whedon said that the explanation would be the same as anything that people want to see emotionally, but have to explain scientifically. Whedon cited switching bodies and cremating the other body, noting that it wasn’t the best explanation ever, “But it got me to Kitty opening that door,” he said. )
Go Whedon for admitting that Colossus return wasn’t perfect… and although made an amazing page… still wasn’t all that plotty. Now maybe we’ll see if he uses him at all!
That was about it – and the link has a bunch of art. Here is the one though that bothers the hell out of me. Let’s hope it’s a dream sequence, and not a continuing need to have Logan be at odds with Cyclops:
Let’s hope Emma slugs him one right after this panel, then brainwipes him again.
MOONKNIGHT COMETH…
(Courtesy of Newsarama)
In a press conference that has Tim Stevens drooling (which if you are a fan of this column you realize doesn’t in fact take much… as a matter of fact, I’ve yet to see a day that Tim Stevens doesn’t have a little bit of spittle on the corner of his gums… anyway”¦ is a statement of hyperbole as, of course, Tim Stevens is not literally drooling. He, in fact, has excellent general hygiene, especially of the oral variety, and is quite handsome as well”¦anyway”¦)
Moon Knight’s team has been declared. Author Charlie Huston, who has done a couple vampire books and some things I’ve never heard of, although is apparently quite popular will be teamed up with David Finch to bring back Marc Spector to the Marvel U.
Huston, an avid comic book reader growing up with a penchant for darker material, will create a six-issue limited series entitled Moon Knight: The Bottom. The initial storyline centers on Marc Spector facing the idea that his time as a hero may be up. His knees are hamburger, his personal relationships are self-inflicted wreckage, and his god has abandoned him. But Moon Knight soon realizes he has a lot of unfinished business. Someone is gonna get their teeth kicked in.
Not knowing much about Moon Knight, personally I have not much to add. You can fill in your own joke here. Also, Tim Stevens drools a lot is my lord and master.
SOMEBODY.. SOMEWHERE.. LOVES JAMES HATTON
(Courtesy of Newsarama)
It all starts with Ed Brubaker’s X-Men: Deadly Genesis limited series. Incidentally, Brubaker will take over the writing chores on Uncanny X-Men from long-time X-writer Chris Claremont later this year.
Okay, I will admit – I am drooling right now. Chris ‘Where’s my off button’ Claremont has been stinking up the X-Verse since his return a couple of years ago. Only in his most recent storyline have I really felt that he still might have it. His Rachael Grey storyline has actually had a lot of heart and quite a bit of intensity…. but now though, I don’t have to worry anymore. This summer, the guy who has been amazing the hell out of me with DEADLY GENESIS is taking UNCANNY along with his chores over with DAREDEVIL.
So over at Marvel, you can vote for what you want Claremont to do next, aside from his NEW EXCALIBUR. (Note: That book isn’t that bad of a read either”¦) The choices are all kind of neat in their own way, and as it seems Marvel might seem to be getting it, none of them affect standard continuity.
BUT WAIT….. THERE’S MORE!
(Courtesy of Newsarama)
“…And in this week’s new issue of Wizard (#173), those creators have been revealed to be artist Billy Tan (X-23) joining Brubaker on Uncanny, and the team of writer Mike Carey (Lucifer, Ultimate FF/X-Men) and veteran X-artist Chris Bachalo on X-Men.“
So get this… we got Brubaker on book #1. We got Carey on book #2. (Who isn’t my second choice of David Hine, but hey…) This could be the set of teams that I’ve wanted to see forever. The team of the book has already been declared as Rogue, Iceman, Cable, Cannonball, Mystique, and Sabretooth – making this the most confusing X-Team ever. The Brubaker team has yet to be declared, but it seems that it’s going to be in direct relation to the end of Deadly Genesis.
X-Men is going to ruuuuuuuule!
If you want some interviews:
Here’s some Brubaker action
Here’s a little Mike Carey
HERE COMES THE BRIDE….
(Courtesy of Newsarama)
In a week of press conferences here are the bullet points on the Black Panther/Storm wedding… which if you haven’t read up, is two black people getting married, because matching up people and race and writing it into back continuity is a really good idea.
I’m not going to give you the entire bullet point bit here. Go read it. About half way through I started to realize that this is solely a marketing ploy and got annoyed. Between Reggie Hudlin’s connections with BET as programming director, their hope to get real fashion designers on Storm’s dress design, and the way they are wedding the story into continuity makes me grumpy. I actually find the entire thing distasteful. If you disagree, drop me a line… I’m willing to discuss.
(As a note: Tim Stevens loves this idea respects this choice because he is a tolerant and intelligent human being.)
TIME FOR SOME JOE INFO!
Courtesy ofNewsarama)
I like that picture. I have nothing else to say of that unless Joey Q discusses it.
Some bullets and responses:
–I think X fans are going to have a lot of fun with the books this summer.
Oh hell yes. See above.
–some interesting pitches come through the door so I suspect that MAX will be growing in the not-too-distant future.
Expect the Luke Cage/Jessica Jones ‘Honeymoon’. No oriface is safe!
–Mike Turner will be providing alternative covers to Civil War to go along with his work on Wolverine: Origins.
In further news…. I don’t care.
–That said, yes, I did say that we would never crossover universes. Have I changed my mind? Well, you’ll just have to wait and see.
This quote is right after a discussion about Ultimate crossing over with the Marvel Universe. Let me state for the record that I heard Joe Quesada say this past year that ‘the minute 616 crosses over with Ultimate we have officially run out of ideas’. I have a feeling this is all bait and switch about what universe is crossing over at some point.. possibly New Universe, but there is no way in hell that he is going to allow an Ultimate crossover with standard MU. Ain’t Gonna Happen.
Okay, now let’s get onto the mini-reviews!
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #528 – No new outfit. No explaining what the second Spider-Womb turned into. No finality to any of it except we get to see Peter’s new powers. Not the ending I wanted at all, and seemingly a long story that ends in verrrrryyyy little. Not a bad issue for being an issue, but horrible as the end to a crossover.
BOOKS OF DOOM #3 – The continuing reality spin on the life of Victor Von Doom continues in a way that has kept me glued to each issue.
DAREDEVIL #81 – Say good-bye to Bendis. His last issue sets the tone for Brubaker’s run, and the ending is actually really fun, if not a bit ambiguous. Either way Brubaker is walking into a world FULL of great story ideas.
NEW AVENGERS #15 – With Spiderwoman on the cover, and an entire story about Ms. Marvel told in a ‘blog’ style. It is probably one of the strongest issues since the relaunch. It also gave me the first moment I’ve ever felt that Captain American really is the best of the best.
NEXT WAVE #1 – In a discussion with Tim Stevens about this book (note: he is usually quite coherent after his medication have I told you how he makes my heart sing with merely a kind word spoken in my direction) we agreed it is a blast, but will need a couple issues to figure out if every character sounds like Warren Ellis. Oh, and three words: Giant Purple Underpants.
PULSE #13 – IT’S A GIRL! HA!
SPIDER-MAN LOVES MARY JANE #2 – Still one of the most layered book for kids out there, and McKeever writes an amazing high school. Period.
ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #89 – Occasionally Bendis tries a little something different, and sometimes it pays off. The ‘kids book’ flashbacks of this story tie it in together really nicely, and oh next issue…… DEADPOOL!
X-MEN DEADLY GENESIS #3 – This book is by far the greatest X-Book being written today. Someone dies, and Xavier’s a prick. Neat huh!
OKAY!
That’s another Marvel News & Views in the bag. I did my best to try and give you as much funny for two weeks of news. We’ll see you next time!
***Edito’s Note: This column has been edited by Timothy Stevens who, of course, made it much much better.***
