Marvel's August previews reviewed

Word on the street—and by "street" I of course mean "Internet"—is that the boring, cheap-looking Marvel's Agents of SHIELD show has actually gotten a lot better than it was for it's rather universally derided first few episodes or so (Me, I may never know. I "wait for the trade" on television, watching it on DVD since, um, I don't actually have a TV anymore, and I am years behind on shows I love, so I can't imagine when or if I'll ever watch Agents of SHIELD. Maybe when I'm in my 80s...?).

Better or not, it still doesn't seem like the sort of thing that would make a great subject for a bunch of comic book artists to offer their own interpretations of on variant covers for, like, every comic Marvel publishes in August of this year, but nevertheless "AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. variant" cover pops up again and again in the publisher's August solicitations, along with plenty of examples (sight unseen, I think I prefer "selfies" variants).

Above is Emma Rios' variant for Uncanny Avengers, which is nice bit of design and an overall appealing cover, even if I don't know what's going on in the show or who all those people are (It will, of course, look pretty awful once all the logos and extraneous font are layered atop it). Michael del Mundo's variant for All-New X-Men looks pretty neat too; he seems to have constructed a labyrinth out of the show's logo:

Expect a lot of drawings of Clark Gregg in August, I guess.

Anyway, Marvel comics is publishing special variant covers based on a television show that is also based on Marvel comics, which airs on ABC, which is is owned by Disney. Just like Marvel is. Synergy!

Aaaaaaa!

Also? Awesome.

I'm eagerly awaiting the trade collection of All-New Doop. And a Doop appearance in an X-Men movie; maybe the next one...?

ALL-NEW GHOST RIDER #6
FELIPE SMITH (W) • DAMION SCOTT (A)
Cover by TRADD MOORE
"LEGEND"
• GHOST RIDER has become a local hero
• Can ROBBIE REYES resist the call of street racing?
• Who is the mysterious figure who takes an interest in the new Ghost Rider?
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

Hey, look! Damion Scott is on art on this issue! That's great. I really love Scott's work, and he seems to be a nice fit on this series, as stylistically he's not in a completely different ball park than Moore, and there aren't a whole lot of artists of who that can be said, given how distinct Scott's style has become.

I like Phil Noto's cover for this month's issue of Black Widow, a series I'm not reading, even though a few of you have assured me is very good and that I should read it.

DEADPOOL #33
GERRY DUGGAN & BRIAN POSEHN (w) • JOHN LUCAS (a)
Cover by MIKE DEL MUNDO
AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. VARIANT BY PASCAL CAMPION
ORIGINAL SIN TIE-IN!
• Deadpool's.
• Daughter.
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

Pfft. My five-year-old daughter could have drawn part of that cover.

...

Nah, I'm just kidding. I don't have a daughter.

This is (one of the) cover(s) for the last issue of Original Sin, and it is by far the best cover in this batch of solicitations. And by "best," I of course mean "most hilarious."

In the past, when they've wanted to keep secret the identity of a character on a cover, they will either not show the cover at all and say that it's "CLASSIFIED!" or they will show the cover, but with the character in silhouette. Here they've instead chosen to pixelate Nick Fury or Frank Castle or whoever's face, like they were hiding from a cult or the mob but being interviewed in a day-time news magazine from the late 1980s.

I sincerely hope that, once that cover is un-pixelated, it is revealed to be Uata The Watcher.

MOON KNIGHT #6
Warren Ellis (W)
Declan Shalvey & JORDIE BELLAIRE (A/C)
• A threat from the first issue is back to cause problems for Moon Knight!
• This mysterious person is the new BLACK SPECTRE and it doesn't mean anything good for the protector of night travelers.
• Don't miss the conclusion of Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire.
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

Either they're missing a few words in that last bullet point, or they're killing off the creative team in this issue...?

Of all the places to have a gigantic venomous spider crawling...

SHE-HULK #7
Charles Soule (W) • Javier Pulido (A)
COVER BY Kevin P. Wada
• The return of superstar artist JAVIER PULIDO!
• Guest-starring Hank Pym!
• She-Hulk, Hellcat and Giant-Man team up to save one of Jen's officemates...but what else does Hank Pym have at stake, and what isn't he telling them?
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$2.99

Well, that's a pretty cool cover, and it sounds like a pretty fun story as well. I like all those characters.

THE SUPERIOR FOES OF SPIDER-MAN #14
NICK SPENCER (W) • STEVE LIEBER (A)
Cover by KRIS ANKA
• A year of duplicity and double crossing leads to this – who will live, who will die, who will get the head of Silvermane?
• Spencer and Lieber bring this rollicking tail of evil to it's penultimate hour!
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

Penultimate...? Uh-oh. I don't like the sound of that.

Well, hopefully this book will be relaunched with the same creative team, the more reader-friendly price point of $2.99 and the new title All-New Amazing Foes of Spider-Man in a few months time...


SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #32
DAN SLOTT & CHRISTOS GAGE (W)
GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI & ADAM KUBERT (A)
Cover by GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI
INTERLOCKING VARIANT A by SKOTTIE YOUNG
SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN KICKS OFF THE EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE!
• Extra-sized monumental issue, including a story drawn by living legend ADAM KUBERT (ORIGIN 2, AVX)!
• How is the Superior Spider-Man still around? Where is he? What is he doing? The road to SPIDER-VERSE STARTS HERE!
40 PGS./Rated T ...$4.99

"Living legend"...?

THUNDERBOLTS #29 & 30
BEN ACKER & BEN BLACKER (W)
GERARDO SANDOVAL (A)
Cover by DAVID YARDIN
PUNISHER VS. THE THUNDERBOLTS, parts 3-4!
• First: Skull to Skull against the Ghost Rider!
• Then: watch lovers quarrel as Frank takes on Elektra!
32 PGS. (EACH)/Parental Advisory ...$2.99 (EACH)

Well that's an awesomely weird cover. I would kinda like a suit like The Punisher's wearing on it.

ULTIMATE FF #6
JOSHUA HALE FIALKOV (W) • ANDRÉ ARAÚJO (A/C)
• The ULTIMATE UNIVERSE'S worst nightmare approaches
• Jump into the future of the Ultimate Universe as the DOOMSDAY CLOCK counts down.
• The END of the FUTURE FOUNDATION.
32 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

So is that cover left over from one of those months when they were doing animal covers, or is Ultimate FF a much, much weirder comic than I had originally thought...?