A lot of good stuff hitting the Marvel side of the comic store this week.

First off, just as Origins starts branching off Wolverine and looking to the pasts of other X-Men (like last week’s Colossus), we also get a new series this week called “Angel: Revelations”, which focuses on Warren Worthington’s teenage transformation into the winged wonder. It’s an interesting premise and one totally ignored by comic book writers, so I think its certainly something worth checking out.

The big news this week is Giant Size Astonishing X-Men #1, which wraps up Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s run on the X as well as reveals the fate of Kitty Pryde, a character who has been surprisingly - and scarily - absent since the beginning of Messiah Complex.

One wild card in the mix is Marvel 1985, which, if I understand it right, puts the Marvel superheroes in a very different world - our own. The series takes place in 1985 and features a real-world boy named Toby who is tasked with gathering his favorite (fictional) heroes against an army of supervillains. It sounds weird, yet undoubtedly original, so its definitely something to pick up this week.

A key point of Secret Invasion, Ms. Marvel has Tony Stark’s second-in-command on the run from her own team when they suspect her of being a Skrull. With an interesting supporting cast, Ms. Marvel has been a pleasant surprise lately, so giving Secret Invasion the benefit of the doubt, this is one book which boosts buying on a weekly basis.

New Avengers #41 also offers a tantalizing peek at the first New Avengers story and offers connections to the current Secret Invasion. This is where the entire premise of Secret Invasion interests me the most, so this is one issue which warrants purchasing - just don’t screw it up Bendis!

Ultimate Spider-Man #122 has an interesting twist - a team-up between Kitty Pryde and Mary Jane Watson to save a captured Spider-Man. The prior two are my favorite re-inventions of classic Marvel characters, so at the very least, this promises to be a fun read.

And Cyclops and White Queen still fight the . . . ummm . . . 60’s in Uncanny X-Men #498. Okay, let’s just skip to the interesting stuff Wolverine, Nightcrawler and Colossus are facing at the heart of the former Soviet Union.

As I wrote previously, I did check out Wolverine: First Class, and I was definitely impressed. The third issue has Kitty and Wolverine teaming up to fight the High Evolutionary and his creation in an effort to find a cure for Wolverine’s bestial rages. A charming, self-contained read, Wolverine: First Class is simply a satisfying read - a growing rarity in the comic industry today.

The villain Bastion has returned on the pages of X-Force. Any team which can stand having Wolverine for a leader is interesting from the get-go, and this issue promises two of its team members will be changed forever. The solicitations also mention Bastion is gathering deadly pieces of the X-Men’s past for a sinister purpose - creepy, cryptic, and just the way I like it.

And lastly on the Marvel side, Young Avengers #5 puts the spotlight on Stature. This character has always been one of my favorites, but I’m hoping they mention her decision to leave Captain America’s side during Civil War, and how it effects her relationship with the rest of the Young Avengers. Written by New Warriors writer Kevin Grevioux, I really have high hopes for this issue, but I’m starting to think Marvel needs to bite the bullet and start the second volume - with or without its original creators.

Not to be outdone, DC kicks off things with the penultimate issue of All-Star Superman, which features the ominous headline “Superman Dead” - but Clark Kent is still walking around, and far from happy about it. All of this figures into Lex Luthor’s personal plan to kill Superman. Written by Grant Morrison, this is one of the biggest surprises in the All-Star line as well as in the Superman mythos in general.

Batman RIP continues in Batman #677 - also by Morrison - as Bruce Wayne falls in love, and Batman begins his fall. It seems like the two characters - once one in the same - are now mutually exclusive, and moving in completely opposite directions, leading to a very interesting showdown looming on the horizon.

Of course, the biggest news for DC is Final Crisis #1 - which ,yes, is ALSO done by Morrison - which starts an epic tale where “worlds will live and heroes will die.” The nutball Libra has assembled a terrifying army of supervillains (again - or did we just forget Infinite Crisis??), but Grant Morrison has more enough benefit of the doubt to warrant this purchase, but still, its hard to feel like buying into Final Crisis after reading Infinite Crisis and 52.

And lastly this week, Teen Titans is building to an interesting climax. Not only is the team fighting against the Clock King - a revamped version of one of my favorite villains - but they are also moving parallel to the original Titans book, as the world seems to think Robin’s team is dead. I doubt this is the case, but its made a pretty interesting situation for the young team.

If you liked that, try...

1. Comic Rundown: Not So Brand New
2. Comic Rundown: Nova Still Rocks and Captain Marvel’s a Skrull
3. Comic Rundown: Fan Favorites Week
4. Comic Rundown: Conquest Scores a C
5. Comic Rundown: Green Mists, Green Lanterns and Green Skrulls

3 Comments »

1. 
   Shawn M.
   May 27, 2008 at 4:51 pm

   I’m really glad you’re liking First Class. There’s a lot of people that I know who haven’t even heard of it — I guess it’s sorta been overshadowed by everything else Marvel’s been doing lately. I’d love to see Marvel take this format to other characters as well — self contained, almost whimsical stories.

   [Reply]
2. 
   Devin de Gruyl
   May 27, 2008 at 5:45 pm

   Grant Morrison writing Final Crisis… hmm. Any odds on how long it’ll be before we get peyote-induced hallucinations, martyred coyotes, and/or repeated nukings of the vaunted Fourth Wall?

   I just can’t stop thinking about his celebrated run on Animal Man… which is really good stuff, mind you. Heck, anybody who could wring tragic pathos out of something as innocuous as a Road Runner cartoon must be a master storyteller.

   [Reply]
3. 
   Richard
   May 27, 2008 at 6:33 pm

   Absolutely, Shawn - it’s a lot of things comic books are missing right now, so that’s why it’s very high on my recommendations.

   And we can only hope, Devin, we can only hope. I think Mark Salisbury has a book of interviews with comic book writers, and Grant Morrison is trippier than watching the Wizard of Oz while playing the Dark Side of the Moon.

   [Reply]

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