That might be what Marvel considers to be the biggest deal in October, given that the theme for the month's True Believers $1 reprint comics are all X-Men-related. On the other hand, the main theme of their variant covers is Mary Jane Watson, apparently in celebration of the launch of her own ongoing solo series, The Amazing Mary Jane by Leah Williams and Carlos Gomez (the above cover is by Humberto Ramos though, not Gomez).
MJ seems a rather unlikely candidate for a solo series, but I suppose it will remain to be seen if this is actually an ongoing series, or one of those occasional limited series that Marvel launches as an ongoing and then cancel and collect into trade in six months to a year. Personally, if we were going to get a major member of Spider-Man's supporting cast in a solo series, I would have preferred it be The Amazing J. Jonah Jameson, but then, that's just me.
Let's see what else Marvel might be up to three months hence...
NICK SPENCER (W) PATRICK GLEASON (A/C)
...
THE FUTURE IS IN PERIL!
As seen in ASM #25, Miguel O’Hara is back in the present and NEEDS to get to Peter Parker.
But as he’s currently being held in an off-the-books ROXXON prison, this is easier said than done.
And J. JONAH JAMESON has a new scheme which means one thing-- TROUBLE FOR SPIDER-MAN!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
Long-time DC Comics artist Patrick Gleason makes his Marvel debut.* He's a really great artist, and not one I would have pegged for an ideal Spider-Man artist, especially during this run of ASM, where his style will seem fairly divergent from that of artist Ryan Ottley, although it does pair pretty well with another regular artist, Chris Bachalo. One of Gleason's great strengths is in the drawing of faces, which is why he doesn't seem the ideal artist for a superhero who only kinda sorta has a face. Like, I didn't recognize that Spider-Man above as Gleason's Spider-Man, although the line work definitely looks like his.
I'm looking forward to seeing what he does on the title, though. I...only have the vaguest notions who Miguel O'Hara is, but so far I've enjoyed the heck out of writer Nick Spencer's run, so I imagine this issue will be good too.
NICK SPENCER, JONATHAN HICKMAN, GERRY DUGGAN, AL EWING, CHIP ZDARSKY, KELLY THOMPSON & JASON AARON (W)
CHRIS BACHALO, CHRIS SPROUSE, GREG SMALLWOOD, MICHAEL ALLRED, RACHAEL STOTT, VALERIO SCHITI, CAMERON STEWART & MARK BAGLEY (A) Cover by ROD REIS
VARIANT COVER BY MIKE ALLRED
VARIANT COVER BY CHRIS BACHALO
VARIANT COVER BY GREG SMALLWOOD
VARIANT COVER BY CHRIS SPROUSE
BLANK VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
A summons from SHIELD leads Peter Parker into a globe-spanning adventure that will test him as never before, one in which the future of all mankind lies in his gloved, webbed hands! Who is the mysterious prisoner in the steel box who keeps propelling the wall-crawler onward?
Nick Spencer and an all-star team of Marvel’s biggest writers and artists take up the challenge to create the wildest, maddest, most unconventional AMAZING SPIDER-MAN story of all! Guest-starring Nick Fury, Wolverine and Peter Porker, the Spectacular Spider-Ham!
96 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T …$9.99
There are a whole lot of creators I like a lot involved with this, including one whose art work I don't see nearly as much as I would like, Cameron Stewart. The writers are an interesting mix too, because some of them seem like, you know, obvious choices for any kinda Spider-Man comic, while others I don't think I've ever seen write a story with Spidey in it before.
Given the title and Spencer's attachment, I assume this will end up in an ASM trade, which is how I've been reading the current run, but this will be one of those books that will be hard to wait a few months for.
That seems like a few too many variant covers for a $10 comic though, doesn't it...?
JED MACKAY, CHRIS ONSTAD, BECKY CLOONAN
& SEBASTIAN GIRNER (W)
FRANCESCO MANNA, CHRIS MOONEYHAM & BECKY CLOONAN (A)
COVER by CARLOS PACHECO
VARIANT COVER BY NICK KLEIN
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
PREPARE FOR THE BIZARRE!
To celebrate Marvel’s 80th we’re resurrecting one of its wildest creations, BIZARRE ADVENTURES! Within these pages you will see Shang-Chi take on a martial arts master, Ulysses Bloodstone battle a master of the dark arts, Dracula meet his match, and the Marvel debut of Achewood’s Chris Onstad! These adventures will be thrilling, exciting and most definitely BIZARRE!
40 PGS./One-Shot/Rated T+ …$4.99
Hmm, none of those things sound particularly bizarre, but they all do sound pretty fun. I'm not sure who is doing what here, but it all sounds random enough to maybe be worth a blind purchase. I'm especially curious about Onstad's contribuion, although it looks like he's just writing, rather than writing and drawing, which would have made me more curious still.
Because this is Marvel and it is 2019, there are naturally multiple covers. I hope I get the Carlos Pacheco one featuring Dracula jumping on a werewolf. Comics just don't have enough fight scenes involving guys in tuxedos anymore.
I know Spidey has had various FF-themed costumes before during his brief stints as a member, but how cool would it be if he had a costume just like the rest of the team's, only with his own face on it instead of their symbol...?
TOM SCIOLI (W) TOM SCIOLI (A/C)
...
Because you demanded it! The bestselling GRAND DESIGN franchise continues with Marvel’s First Family! Brought to you by critically-acclaimed cartoonist TOM SCIOLI (GODLAND, TRANSFORMERS VS. GI JOE) in the sole-authorship tradition made famous by ED PISKOR’S X-MEN: GRAND DESIGN trilogy! Join the Watcher and witness how it all began… Plus appearances by your faves: Doctor Doom! Black Panther! Namor! Galactus! Mole Man! The Inhumans!
48 PGS./Rated T …$5.99
I'm excited about anything Tom Scioli does now, although I would personally have preferred him do, like, 200 pages worth of Super Powers comics for DC, rather than the rather short back-up stories he crafted for them (From what I've seen on Twitter, it looks like he has an infinity worth of ideas for the property).
Given his past work and obvious affection for Jack Kirby, having Scioli do anything Kirby related seems like a slam dunk of an idea. This has an added wrinkle though, in that if it's anything like Ed Piskor's X-Men: Grand Design, and given the title and the solicitation copy referring to it as in the tradition made famous by Piskor's X-Men: Grand Design, I have to assume that it is, then it will be a sort of remixed retelling of a huge chunk of the original FF comics. But it's my understanding (and limited experience) that the original FF comics all fit together fairly seamlessly, being the work of a single creative team, whereas the X-Men franchise started with one team in one direction, and then the X-Men were essentially re-created by another, at which point they achieved their more traditional iteration.
In other words, the X-Men saga seemed like it was particularly ripe for some kinda making-sense-of-it-all, smoothing-certain-stuff-over kinda remix, where the FF saga does not. I guess we'll see.
I would have thought the Avengers the next Marvel franchise most appropriate for a Grand Design treatment, as that book, like X-Men, seemed more fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants than the early FF comics, but if Scioli's Grand Design does well, maybe that will be next. Who would be good for that, though? Jim Rugg seems the obvious choice when looking for a third cartoonist to group with Scioli and Piskor, although personally I'd prefer Rugg keep making Street Angel comics (I tell you what, Marvel; let's compromise, and have Piskor do a Street Angel Vs. The Avengers comic).
I bet Michel Fiffe would be pretty killer on such a project, too...
MAGNIFICENT MS. MARVEL #8
SALADIN AHMED (W) JOEY VAZQUEZ (A)
Cover by EDUARD PETROVICH
The villainous MONOPOLY has his sights set on Ms. Marvel, and his new recruits DISCORD and LOCKDOWN are more than happy to deliver her on a silver platter. Can Kamala survive a zombie invasion AND an all-too-literal corporate merger?
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
I'm not sure who this "villainous MONOPOLY" character is, but I hope he looks like this:
PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON (W) LEONARD KIRK (A) Cover by INHYUK LEE
...
THE HORROR SMASH-HIT LIVES AGAIN!
When Galactus’ corpse appears at the edge of Earth’s solar system, the Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four investigate. Too late, they discover that Galactus’ body is now the vessel of an interstellar terror, which one-by-one transforms Earth’s Mightiest Heroes into the universe’s most terrifying predators! As our heroes try to escape the superpowered, cannibalistic aberrations that were once their friends and family, will any survive? And even if they do, can they hope to protect Earth from the infestation that has already claimed half of the known universe?
Don’t miss the FIRST ISSUE of this terrifying new vision of the classic Marvel tale!
40 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$4.99
Wait, Marvel Zombies is a "classic Marvel tale" already...? It hasn't been that long since the concept was first introduced. Can't they at least say "modern classic Marvel tale," if only to not make me feel old...?
So, what do you think the chances are that Marvel decided to resurrect the franchise simply because DC's DCeased turned out to be something of a surprise hit...? I think the fact that this is a one-shot would argue in favor of it being a somewhat hastily decided-upon project. (Although the solicitation copy also refers to it as "the FIRST ISSUE" so, um, maybe Marvel has plans to follow it up elsehwere in the future, I guess...?)
THE PUNISHER #16
MATTHEW ROSENBERG (W) Szymon Kudranski (A)
Cover by GREG SMALLWOOD
MARY JANE VARIANT COVER BY BELEN ORTEGA
ZEMO DARK THIRTY!
New York City is under siege as the new Thunderbolts, Black Widow’s squad, mayor Fisk’s personal V.I.G.I.L. soldiers, and everyone in between get caught in the crossfire, but it all comes down to two men.
Punisher.
Zemo.
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99
I heartily applaud whoever decided to call this "Zemo Dark Thirty."
PAT GLEASON, ROB FEE, AND SEAN RYAN (W) PETE WOODS (A)
Cover by PHILIP TAN
...
DEAD IS THE NEW RED!
In order to finally destroy Spider-Man once and for all Norman Osborn joined
himself with the Carnage symbiote, becoming the Red Goblin! Here, at last, is the Red Goblin’s reign of madness and mayhem! So grab your greatest goblin gear and rend your raiments red, for the Red Goblin rides again!
40 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Parental Advisory …$4.99
Oh, Norman Osborn merged with Carnage to become the Red Goblin...so that's why he's red...
GERRY DUGGAN (W) MIKE DEODATO JR. (A) Cover by DAVID FINCH
Conan & The Punisher attempt to walk out of the Savage Land hauling the caskets of Frank’s family...through Antarctica.
Frank Castle never was much of a religious man...but now he’s firmly “Crom-curious”
Watch out for the last page, it’s a doozy.
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99
I'm very excited about Crom-curious Frank Castle.
GERRY DUGGAN (W) RON GARNEY (A) Cover MIKE DEODATO
...
A barbarian walks into a brothel and thus begins another adventure in the life of Conan of Cimmeria. Human traffickers finally meet an immovable human. Black Widow is drawn into the intrigue by following the trail of bodies left by Kulan Gath’s henchman, and a last prayer from one of the trafficked women summons an unexpected angel, the Son Of Satan himself, Daimon Hellstrom. It’s the Marvel team-up you didn’t know you needed until now. Pre-order Savage Avengers Annual # 1 or go to hell.
48 PGS./Parental Advisory …$4.99
Let's linger a bit on cover artist Mike Deodato's Son of Satan for a moment. His legs do not match one another. Like, at all. At first I assumed this was some sort of horrible art mistake. But then I realized that if Daimon is still supposed to be the literal son of Satan, and thus a half-demon, perhaps something is currently going on with him I'm not aware of; perhaps Deodato has purposefully drawn him with a goat-like left leg and a human-like right leg. But, if that is the case, why is Daimon wearing leather fucking pants? Surely that's not flexible enough to fit two differently-shaped and sized legs that well, is it? And wouldn't Deodato want to drawn him dressed differently, so as to emphasize his goat leg? Other clues are that Daimon's left arm also looks screwed up, suggesting that perhaps Deodato is drawing him in some state of demonic mutation and, arguing in the opposite direction, Black Widow's feet don't look quite right either.
So this is a pretty bad cover, but I'm not sure how bad, I guess is what I am saying.
JONATHAN HICKMAN (W) LEINIL FRANCIS YU (A/C)
VARIANT COVER BY ARTGERM
VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY ARTGERM
EVERY MUTANT EVER VARIANT COVER BY MARK BAGLEY
YOUNG GUNS VARIANT COVER BY MARCO CHECCHETTO
VARIANT COVER BY RUSSELL DAUTERMAN
DESIGN VARIANT COVER BY JONATHAN HICKMAN
HIDDEN GEM VARIANT COVER BY TBA
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
PARTY VARIANT COVER BY MARK BROOKS
PREMIERE VARIANT COVER BY LEINIL FRANCIS YU
DAWN OF X!
The X-Men find themselves in a whole new world of possibility… and things have never been better! Jonathan Hickman (HOUSE OF X, POWERS OF X, SECRET WARS) and superstar artist Leinil Yu (NEW AVENGERS, CAPTAIN AMERICA) reveal the saga of Cyclops and his hand-picked squad of mutant powerhouses!
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99
The new X-Men comic, which seems to primarily be a vehicle for variant cover generation, will feature a line-up consisting of Cyclops, Wolverine and...that's all I am 100% sure on. Like, I recognize the two ladies there, but I've no idea which versions they are or what timeline they are from or whatever. I'm assuming the guy with the mustache is Cyclops' dad and the guy with the big gun is the new de-aged Cable, in which case this book looks like it is mainly...Cyclops' family, plus Wolverine...? Hmmm.
Based from what I've seen online, people seem pretty excited by Hickman taking over the franchise, and I have to admit that I'm curious (I thought Hickman's Avengers run was the best Avengers run I've ever read), but this cover doesn't fill me with hope. But hey, maybe one of the other ten covers features a line-up I find more compelling.
TINI HOWARD (W) MARCUS TO (A) Cover by MAHMUD ASRAR
EVERY MUTANT EVER VARIANT COVER BY MARK BAGLEY
YOUNG GUNS VARIANT COVER BY MIKE DEL MUNDO
DESIGN VARIANT COVER BY JONATHAN HICKMAN
VARIANT COVER BY MIKE MCKONE
VARIANT COVER BY KRIS ANKA
HIDDEN GEM VARIANT COVER BY TBA
A NEW DAWN IS FORGED!
The Otherworld is rocked by war! It is a new era for mutantkind as a new Captain Britain holds the amulet, fighting for the Kingdom of Avalon with her Excalibur at her side - Rogue, Gambit, Rictor, Jubilee...and Apocalypse.
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99
You can tell this book isn't as important as X-Men because it only has half as many variant covers.
So, that's an unusual line-up for an Excalibur team, right? There's, what, one British mutant on the team, maybe...?
I'm also not clear if this and the other X-Men book below is a one-shot or the first series in an ongoing. The solicits don't say "one-shot" in them, like the solicit for Marvel Zombies did, but the premises sound a little more temporary than one might expect.
GERRY DUGGAN (W) MATTEO LOLLI (A) Cover by RUSSEL DAUTERMAN
EVERY MUTANT EVER VARIANT COVER BY MARK BAGLEY
YOUNG GUNS VARIANT COVER BY Aaron Kuder
DESIGN VARIANT COVER BY JONATHAN HICKMAN
VARIANT COVER BY PHILIP TAN
HIDDEN GEM VARIANT COVER BY TBA
VARIANT COVER BY TODD NAUCK
THE X-MEN SAIL AT DAWN!
Even in this glorious new dawn, Mutantkind faces hardships and oppression from their human counterparts. Led by Captain Kate Pryde and funded by Emma Frost and the Hellfire Trading Company, Marauders Storm, Pyro, Bishop and Iceman sail the seas of the world to protect those hated and feared!
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99
The bold new direction for the X-Men franchise is that...they are pirates now...? Huh. Okay. I guess that's something. It's certainly a nice cover. The two weird things that stand out to me here is that 1.) They are doing an X-men-as-pirates comic and Nightcrawler is not on the team and that's, like, his whole deal and 2.) The Marauders are a team of lame-o X-Men villains, so using their name without any obvious connection to them seems strange. Although maybe that just goes to show what marauders the X-men are now! They've totally mauraded the mauraders' very name...!
*I think. Look, I read Marvel in trade now, so I'm always six months behind now. As my knowledge of Marvel goings-on...? Never up-to-date!
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