Three new Marvel NOW collections that I’ve read and enjoyed recently. I had my doubts about the new re-launch/re-boot, but I have actually rather enjoyed the stories themselves (despite, sometimes, only have movie knowledge to get me situated…).
Reviewed: Avengers, Fearless Defenders, Thor: God of Thunder
Really looking forward to this! I enjoyed the first Thor movie a lot more than I anticipated (to be fair, I didn’t know much about the Marvel version of the character).
This is just a badass image. One of my favourite, recent pieces
In October 2013, Marvel will be releasing the first in a new series of original graphic novels. For those of us who tend to wait for collected editions of the monthly series, this is a great development. We’ll get a decent, “movie-length epic” (according to the press release). Here’s the premise for the first book, Avengers: Endless Wartime:
An abomination, long thought buried, has resurfaced in a war-torn land – but now it wears an American flag. Faced with another nightmare reborn, Captain America will not stand for yet more death at the hands of a ghost from his past. Haunted by his greatest shame, Thor must renew the hunt for a familiar beast. Side by side with the great Super Heroes the world has seen, united to end the threats no one of them could face alone, the Avengers will stare down the greatest threat the team has ever faced. But is even their combined might enough to overcome a force of pure evil?
So the poster for the second movie in Marvel’s Thor series was recently released. The Dark World is coming to theatres in November 2013 (in the US, at least).
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Christopher Eccleston, Anthony Hopkins, Zachary Levi, Idris Elba, Stellan Skarsgård, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Rene Russo, Jaimie Alexander & others.
Wait, what? Here’s the email subject line that greeted me when I got in to work this morning:
Captain America Elected President Of The United States of America!
Given a glitch with my work computer, I wasn’t able to look at the preview pages that were attached to the email, but I thought I’d share a couple of them here. Because this is… an interesting development. I’d been watching some of the Ultimate Comics Ultimates previews and story comments for a while, and particularly the “Divided We Stand” story-arc that seems to be bridging a handful of the UC line (Spider-Man and X-Men at least). However, I’m not really sure what I make of it, now…
Here’s what Marvel Entertainment’s Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso had to say of the development:
“This is one of those stories that could only be told in the Ultimate Comics Universe, where the only rule is simple – there are no rules… We’ve seen Captain America fight wars and battle super villains, but running a country is a whole new challenge – but don’t worry, this isn’t about political speeches and closed door meetings. This is exactly the kind of high-octane, super powered thrill ride you’d expect from a book called The Ultimates!”
Hm… Colour me skeptical.
Sam Humphries, who scripted the issue (and also works on Fanboys vs. Zombies for Boom Studios) said:
“Captain America was created in 1941, but this is the first time he’s been made Commander in Chief. It’s an honor to write a landmark milestone for such an iconic character… We’ve made a commitment in Ultimates to show how epic events have significant consequences. President Cap is no different. This will have a lasting impact on Captain America, Thor, Iron Man, and the whole team.”
Also:
Seriously?
On a happier note, the cover for issue 15 is pretty badass:
Ok, I vote Thor for President!
(Putting the “God” in “In God We Trust”? Too far…?)
One of Marvel’s most popular cross-title Events
Writer: Mark Millar | Artist: Steve McNiven | Inks: Dexter Vines w. Mark Morales, Steve McNiven, John Dell & Tim Townsend | Colours: Morry Hollowell
Whose side are you on? A conflict is brewing that threatens to pit friend against friend, brother against brother and all it will take is a single misstep to cost thousands their lives and ignite the fuse! As the war claims its first victims, no one is safe as teams, friendships and families begin to fall apart and the Marvel Universe super heroes go to war against each other.
Collecting the seven issues in the Civil War mini-series, which had tie-in issues across the Marvel comics line, this is a real show-stopper of a story. It’s not perfect, by any means, but it is an engaging and fast-paced read. It’s also much better than The Ultimates (also written by Millar). Gorgeous artwork, and warring super heroes make for a very good book – more so, when you consider that it is really very reasonably priced in the UK. Well worth reading.
Writer: Mark Millar | Artist: Bryan Hitch | Inks: Andrew Currie & Paul Neary | Colours: Paul Mounts
Strange beings with incredible powers have risen up to challenge the old order, and ordinary citizens are scared witless. The government’s solution: a small but lethal army known as the Ultimates, created to protect us all from the newly rising threats to mankind!
Despite the plentiful recommendations and obvious popularity of this series, I’m sad to say it left me utterly underwhelmed. The story felt flat and over-padded. It clearly had an influence on the recent (excellent) Avengers Assemble movie, but it still managed to fail on a number of levels. I will concede that these two books – also available in a special edition collection (cover image above left) – did have moments of inspired storytelling, but they were fleeting and far between as to have little overall impact on the quality or my level of enjoyment.
Still catching up on all my emails after the Virus Ate My Computer, but I came across this and thought it was pretty cool and worthy of being shared on here.
Marvel Entertainment will be going Pink this October, with a month-long campaign in support of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®, to run during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Marvel will have all new covers on select October titles and educational material on Marvel.com. Throughout the month, many of the publisher’s most popular super hero titles – including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, and Wolverine – will feature all-new variant covers with special pink-colored costumes.
