Marvel News & Views: Statues and Solicits

News

Whoa…tons of stuff this week. Let’s not waste any time then, shall we?

Oh, and this week’s theme? Venom minis!

Hitch. Whedon. Just a Little Late

With the long-awaited (and discussed) finale of Marvel’s Ultimates 2 finally hitting comic shops last Wednesday, Newsarama thought a in-depth discussion with series artist and co-creator Bryan Hitch was in order. But with a highly influential series nearly six years in the making coming to an end, we also thought the occasion deserved a special touch, and when we heard Buffy creator and Astonishing X-Men writer Joss Whedon was itching to talk Hitch, we knew we had our appropriate exit interview…

No one does irony quite like Newsarama

Huge, fun interview. I don’t have much to say about it (except, “What the heck is the next project, Mr. Hitch? Stop teasing us!”) but it is a good (and, despite its size) quick read.

Old News

Ideas were flying fast and furious on New York City’s East 55th Street this week as Marvel Comics gathered its top creators and editorial staff to break down the comics excitement for the next year and beyond at the company’s semiregular creative summit.

Wizard attended and got the following juicy morsels from the participants:

This was current when I got the think from Wizard, I promise.

Sorry, this is late, I forgot to put it up in the last MNV. However, I still haven’t seen it anywhere else and it was written by B. Morse himself so it well worth a look, even late.

Anyway, apparently the Ultimate-verse has big things going on.

Just Because I Love to Drive You Guys Crazy

Marvel has provided Newsarama with the first look at Michael Turner’s variant cover for Thor #1, which will be available in a 50/50 split with the regular cover

Newsarama is raising your heart rate.

Here it is:

I honestly think it is just fine. But then, I don’t hate everything Turner does so my opinion is a bit unimportant, no?

Editing the Devil

Today, we kick off a series of interviews with the editorial and creative team behind Marvel’s Daredevil. Arguably, no other book at Marvel casts as long a creative shadow as Daredevil thanks to the legendary run of Frank Miller, as well as numerous fan-favorite runs by the likes of Ann Nocenti, Kevin Smith, Brian Bendis, David Mack and now, Ed Brubaker.

Never a huge seller, Daredevil seems to live in extremes as a series. When it’s good, it’s really good. When it’s bad…hey, this is a comic book, not Mae West. That is, Daredevil is a book that responds well to strong creative and editorial vision and guidance. When the team has a clear plan, and everyone is on the same page, Daredevil is a book that just shines.

Newsarama finds that brave soul.

It is always weird for me to see Ann Nocenti mentioned in the same breath as Smith, Bendis, or Brubaker. Her run had some good points (Typhoid Mary, Daredevil beats Ultron, Matt Murdock helping the law clinic), no doubt, but overall it is so preachy that even a guy like me, who agrees with almost all her politics, was turned off by it. In fairness, Mack’s run was far too short to be included on that list either. His was good stuff, but, what, only six issues long?

This image is just…incredible. Love it!

Joe Fridays is Cancelled…For This Week

So – normally we start off New Joe Fridays with some pithy remark, noting some of the recent events at Marvel, or something or other. This week, we’re a little…er…well, coming up dry, because we’re doing New Joe Fridays without Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada.

Turns out that Joe was asked to be the guest speaker at BBDO’s Worldwide conference in Miami next week, which threw his schedule into a blender for the rest of this week, making fielding questions for NJF an impossibility.

Don’t fret though because Newsarama’s got…Back in Wack?

This quote about One More Day stuck out to me: “In this case, I believe it was all about making the ongoings important and the fact that JMS and Axel wanted this story to cap their historic run on Amazing. Speaking only as Johnny-ComeLately here, I think it would have felt like a cheat to ask the readers to buy a separate mini for this story.”

I’m actually inclined to agree with Mr. Wacker on the separate mini front, but I fail to see how crossing over to two other titles is really any different. I guess you could argue that now fans are only picking two books they wouldn’t normally, not four, but that’s a bit weak. Plus, it displaces the creators of those two books for a month and speaking as one such person, a lot of us prefer those books (or at least one of them, be it Sensational, Friendly, or both) over Amazing.

And it gets worse. Post-OMD, no more Peter David & Co. or Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa & Co. Arrgh, that’s too bad. The irony is particularly thick when they mention Sacasa has a Spidey mini, of some kind, coming out after. What was all that about me not having to buy a separate miniseries then?

Of course, I admit, I am being a bit of a contrarian here. I just can’t help myself, I guess.

Does anyone care where or if Swing Shift fits into continuity? Really? Can’t we just enjoy as the one off story it was intended?

”However, did you also know that Phil did the break dancing for Jamie Kennedy in “Kickin’ It Old School” and is up for Wolfowitz’s old job at the World Bank!

He’s got a lot going on, our Phil.”

This quote amused me. The Phil in question is, of course, Jimenez and as much as I am excited to see him on Spidey at some point soon, I have to admit that he’d make a great head of the World Bank. Godspeed, Phil, godspeed.

I might actually pick up that new Casey Iron Man mini. I sort of dug Iron Man: Inevitable so, we’ll see. I’ll re-read it before this one comes out and see if I really liked it or it was more about Frazier’s art.

If it was the art thing, then Marvel is out of like. Because this…

…is not so special.

Wow…Slott off She-Hulk as of #21? Huh…does the book stand a chance after that? It seemed like Slott was sort of keeping it alive through just his own force of will.

A Ms. Marvel in the Marvel Universe? Coincidence?

The action in the Marvel Universe is coming fast and furious and writer Brian Reed is in the thick of it. In the ongoing “Ms. Marvel” series Reed has his title character caught in the crossfire of a three way civil war taking place within the ranks of A.I.M. In “New Avengers: Illuminati,” which Reed co-writers with Brian Bendis, readers are learning some of the secret history of the Marvel U. CBR News spoke with Reed about both books.

Comic Book Resources thinks not.

Ahh, this…

…explains that bit of weirdness in Mighty Avengers last week. But where’s his super hot leisure suit?

As covered before, I don’t really follow Ms. Marvel. Nothing personal, she’s just never really did anything that caught my attention.

However, to be honest, the upcoming stuff in her books sounds cool. I might just have to check it out. I’m especially intrigued by the upcoming kidnapping plot.

Maybe You Heard About This?

The action in the Marvel Universe is coming fast and furious and writer Brian Reed is in the thick of it. In the ongoing “Ms. Marvel” series Reed has his title character caught in the crossfire of a three way civil war taking place within the ranks of A.I.M. In “New Avengers: Illuminati,” which Reed co-writers with Brian Bendis, readers are learning some of the secret history of the Marvel U. CBR News spoke with Reed about both books.

I don’t see the problem. Newsarama always enjoys doing my laundry.

So, Hughes probably doesn’t do himself a lot of favors here, especially when he plays that most popular of cards, “How come Black people get to say the “n-word” and I don’t?” That is particularly maddening since, well, it hardly has any bearing here.

That said, he does make some points worth discussing.

Or rather, reading his interview prompted me to discuss some points.

First, having seen the original sketch, I have to say that the problem is less in the idea and more in the execution. The sketch had a sense of playful fun that made it clear that MJ had discovered something and was amused, not that she was about to wash some clothes. In going to 3 dimensions, the statue failed to carry that sense of fun over and intentions became unclear. It is still a pretty lousy statue, but the fault actually shouldn’t be placed at Hughes’ feet.

I also appreciate Hughes’ point about MJ not being a superhero and it is therefore hard to do a sort of classic superheroic pose with her. On the other hand, I might argue, perhaps she’s not the best statue subject for you to pursue then, if you can’t find an angle.

And now, some of my pet peeves about the way people have written about this statue.

1.) Entirely too much focus on the laundry thing- Yes, it is offensive, no doubt. However, by hammering away at the “she’s doing laundry, how horrific!” thing, I found myself increasingly responding, “and?”. Look, I live with my fiancée. Sometimes she does my laundry. Sometimes I do hers. When she does my laundry, it is not an expression for my contempt of feminism and when I do hers it is not an attempt by her to emasculate me. The fact is, couples do each others’ laundry. Yes, portraying MJ in a domestic situation is a sticky subject. However, let’s not overdo it by making it sound like her doing laundry is, in and of itself, somehow a crushing blow to feminism.

2.) The outfit makes her a “whore”- Arrgh…way to hit my biggest net pet peeve people. Let’s review the outfit, shall we, from top to bottom

The pearls- Eh…this one I get. It invokes the Donna Reed archetype, which is troubling when paired with the laundry.

The top- Look, I’ve known women who wore belly shirts and/or cleavage exposing shirts. I’ve known women who have worn shirts that did both at once. I’ve dated women like this, I had a sister who once (she’s older and “respectable” now) dressed like this. Guess what? 90% of them, maybe more, were not promiscuous.

The thong- Again, women wore thongs, many of them. Most aren’t giving it up every day to any number of men. Also, the whole above the pants thing? Yeah, you might not like it, but sometimes it happens and sometimes it is done on purpose because it is/was fashionable. Given that this statue was pre-marriage, we’ll say it happens about 4 years ago Marvel Time. In that situation, former model Mary Jane would be either fashion forward or right in line with the trend. Not such a crazy thing, right?

The torn jeans- One of my best female friends in college owned a pair of jeans that were torn in the back, on both legs, around the same location as Mary’s tear. She didn’t wear them around, just in her dorm, and she claimed she couldn’t part with them because they were the most comfortable pair she had. Again, this woman, no slut.

So, disagree with the fashion sense, fine. But let’s not pretend that a.) it is all that far fetched and b.) that it makes Mary Jane a bad person or an easy person.

These arguments just muddy up the waters to me. Here’s the thing, the statue is insulting because the combination of all the factors. State that. By drawing attention to specific pieces, by nitpicking on Mary Jane’s underwear or choice of activity, you undermine the argument. Each of those, on their own, are not problematic. It is the portrait they create together. So take it as a whole. Or if you must focus on something, choose the pose. That pose just can’t be defended, cheesecake tradition or not.

BEWARE THE FUTURE’S AWESOME MIGHT

This is always a good time!

You know what else is fun? Checking out the solicits yourself at Comic Book Resources

Halo: Uprising #2I know this is the second month this series has been listed but I still have to express shock. Bendis/Maleev? Really?!

Marvel Illustrated: Treasure Island #6 What’s funny about this is my mom has a framed chalk (I thick it is chalk) drawing of me from when I was young and I look exactly like the little boy on this cover.

What also funny is that I too once traveled the high seas with pirates.

Okay, half of this is true. But which half? WHICH HALF?!!!

Ultimate Power #7Wow…wasn’t this supposed to be a big deal? Does anyone even care anymore?

Ultimate Spider-Man #112Oh my god, Spidey…

…look out behind you!!!

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #23The end of an era? Isn’t that overstating a run that didn’t even last two years?

Sensational Spider-Man #40This issue sounds like a great idea. Well, except for the idea that Spidey might actually be talking directly to God…I can’t get the image of Homer walking around with a giant bearded God in the Simpsons out of my head for some reason.

My favorite thing about this solicit though is the Part 1 of (1). Is the necessary at that point?

Annihilation: Conquest- Star Lord #2Try as hard as I might, I just can’t find a raccoon intimidating.

Sorry Mr. Rocket.

Daredevil #100So this text sort of gives away the villain behind it all. I won’t spoil it here (it shouldn’t be hard to figure out) but suffice to say while its cool, it does not live up to my expectations of a villain resurrection. This guy hasn’t been all that low profile to anyone who read the end of the previous volume of Daredevil.

On the other hand, that was more than 100 issues ago. So maybe I am an idiot.

Fantastic Four #549This is a fine cover, but really I’m only using it for one reason.

PASTE POT PETE!!! Or the Trapster. Whatever. Either way he’s back and alive. SWEET!

The Last Fantastic Four StoryWhat an underwhelming cover from a great artist for a potentially big deal book.

Blade #12This cover…

…is much fun, it half makes me wish I had read the book and gotten enough other people to do so to keep it alive.

On the other hand, we might not have gotten a cover that proclaimed its cancellation in bold text.

Immortal Iron Man #9This is great. I’ve always wanted to see how Iron Fist would fare in the hit video game Mortal Kombat.

Avengers: The Initiative #5Ahh, excellent.

Like Xorn before him, the Iron Spider is back! And why not? Why let a little thing like logic get in the way of using a good character design.

Heroes for Hire #13Really?

Tentacle porn is how you want to go here?

Interesting choice.

Marvel Adventures Two-in-One #2

I still don’t know how I feel about this Green Goblin design. It always struck me as more goofy than frightening.

Ms. Marvel #18Has Sleepwalker ever looked cooler?

And what’s up with Ms. Marvel? She’s not above Sleepwalker! Stop acting all high and mighty!

New Avengers #33

Alright, so we have The Hood, Madame Masque, The Wizard, and umm…bold goggle guy and Wolverine looking guy.

New Avengers/Transformers #2

Wow…Wolverine got fat.

The Loners #5Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you

Some Kind of Wonderful.

Series Title to Be Announced #2I kid you not, I’d pay three copies of every issue if they kept “Series Title to Be Announced” as the actual title.

Oh my god! Stephen Colbert was right! Look out for the bear!

Runaways #28So…is this Xavin and Karolina?

Either way, it is pretty.

Super Villain Team-Up/MODOK’s 11 #2Nice Thunderbolts cover homage.

Terror, Inc. #1I am looking forward to this despite a.) not reading Terror the first time around and b.) really disliking Lapham’s recent work. What’s wrong with me?

Thor Visionaries- Walter Simonson Vol. 4Excellent, a new Simonson volume! Now if Marvel would just re-release the previous two volumes, I could catch up.

That went fast, huh? Well, good things always do. See you soon.

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Un Gajje is Moving Out and Moving Up