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| One of only two of the hip-hop variants I recognized the inspiration for. |
If you visit any of the comics sites I visit, then chances are you heard some conversation regarding one of Marvel's planned variant programs for the month of October. Here's a hint: It wasn't the "KIRBY MONSTER VARIANTS"* or the "COSPLY VARIANTS" the "INHUMAN 50th ANNIVERSARY VARIANTS," nor any of the various sketch, design or blank variants.
No, it was about the planned "HIP-HOP VARIANTS," which actually do sound kind of fun, as they will apparently entail posing various Marvel heroes in recreations of classic hip hop album covers (like the Ms. Marvel cover-as-The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill album cover above), in much the same way DC and Marvel have done with movie posters and works of fine art in the past.
Please see this article on Comics Alliance for an overview of the program and the conversation regarding it, including relevant links to a piece by David Brothers, which explains cultural appropriation and why hip-hop variants from Marvel Comics may not be that cool an idea, and why it might irritate a hell of a lot of fans of Marvel comics and/or hip-hop.
As a straight white man, I hesitate to say anything at all about any of this (and, like Abhay Khosla, I don't want to sound like I'm defending Marvel for not having more black writers and artists or anything–"That’s just some dumb guy in a dumb hat dancing around institutional racism," as Khosla worte), but I will say that I was kind of surprised by the anonymous poster who asked Tom Brevoort about the lack of black writers and artists involved in their post-Secret Wars books. Because that seems kind of shocking, in 2015, doesn't it?
I only buy Marvel comics in trade, because I am not Jay-Z and can't afford to pay $4 for 20-pages of comics, and the last two I trades I bought were All-New Ghost Rider Vol. 2 and Ms. Marvel Vol. 3, the former (mostly) drawn by a black artist and the latter (mostly) by a guy with a Japanese name who I therefore assume is either Japanese or Japanese-American, and...I honestly have no idea what race or nationality or cultural identification to assign the other artists who drew parts of those books, Elmo Bondoc, Kris Anka and Felipe Smith. (I know it's been said by others before, but comics are a medium where one knows creators by their work and name, but may not have any idea what they look like, and thus what their race, nationality or, in some cases, even their gender might be. Unless I've seen a photo of a creator in the back of a book, or I've seen them at a convention or during a personal appearance of some kind, or in a photo accompanying a mainstream media interview, then there's a pretty good chance I will have no idea what they look like. Like, two of my favorite artists are Richard Sala and Kelley Jones. I've never seen a picture of either one of them, and when I imagine them, I see a creepy guy in a trenchcoat and wide-brimmed hat and an hulking, over-muscled Batman with three-foot-long ears and a 45-foot-long cape, respectively.)
But if it's true Marvel doesn't have any writers or artists who are black working on any of their books post-September....? That's pretty weird. Marvel publishes a lot of comics. Like, 52,000 different titles a month. (Hey, this is a good argument for relaunching All-New Ghost Rider though, and keeping Damion Scott on as artist!)
I find the idea of cultural appropriation regarding hip-hop and Marvel kind of funny though, because hip-hop had so much in the way of appropriation of other music throughout its history, via beats and samples. And, as the Comics Alliance article pointed out, there are several rappers who have to varying degrees based aspects of their music and personas on Marvel Comics IP (created almost exclusively by middle-aged Jewish men), rappers like MF Doom and the Wu Tang Clan (whose work also borrowed heavily from Hong Kong action movies for inspiration). So hip-hop borrows from other cultures and recontextualizes stuff to make something new, like, all the time. That's a large part of what hip-hop is, isn't it?
On the other hand, when the situation has been reversed in the past, and a hip-hop artist or rapper has borrowed a name or image from Marvel Comics, it's not as if Marvel has exactly been cool with it, you know? In that regard then, it's kind of funny to see Marvel put in the position of having to explain why MF Doom has to watch his step when it comes to using images of Doctor Doom, but it's totally cool for them to repurpose rap iconography to sell their comics.
But enough about cultural and corporate appropriation, let's talk about something we can all agree on: Marvel Entertainment will be publishing a bunch of comics in October.
Here's what jumped out at me...
AL EWING, CHARLES SOULE, SKOTTIE YOUNG, GERRY CONWAY, MARC GUGGENHEIM (W)
FELIPE ANDRADE, RON GARNEY, PACO MEDINA, GERMAN PERALTA, MIKE PERKINS, STEFANO CASELLI (A)
Cover by MIKE DEL MUNDO
VARIANT COVER A BY DAVID MARQUEZ
VARIANT COVER B BY DAVID MARQUEZ
KIRBY MONSTER VARIANT COVER BY PAUL POPE
In the aftermath of SECRET WARS, it's an All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe, and this is your one-stop entry point to the changes and mysteries that have developed during the eight months that have passed! Featuring new stories of DAREDEVIL, CARNAGE, CLASSFIED, CLASSIFIED, AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. and CONTEST OF CHAMPIONS!
56 PGS./ One-Shot/Rated T+ …$5.99
I have to confess I find this find this title pretty hilarious. The dumb ".1" numbering was a way of publishing important comics between issues (or before issues, in the case of new titles), so I don't know why on Earth you'd use one on a one-shot. I guess Marvel realized that too, so they didn't use ".1", but they still spelled out "POINT ONE" before the "#1." Sometimes the Big Two are just too adorable when it comes to numbering their comics, you know?
DAN SLOTT (w) • GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI (a)
CoverS by ALEX ROSS
ISSUE #1 – DESIGN VARIANT BY ALEX ROSS
COSPLAY VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
INHUMAN 50TH ANNIVERSARY VARIANT COVER BY TBA
SKETCH VARIANT COVER BY ALEX ROSS
VARIANT COVER BY MARK BAGLEY
VARIANT COVER BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI
BLANK COVER VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE
VARIANT COVER BY J. SCOTT CAMPBELL
VARIANT COVER BY HUMBERTO RAMOS
HIP-HOP VARIANT COVER BY MIKE DEL MUNDO
SPIDER-MAN UNLIMITED GAME VARIANT COVER BY TBA
ISSUE #2 – KIRBY MONSTER VARIANT COVER BY PAOLO RIVERA
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
THE WORLD'S GREATEST SUPER HERO!
Spider-Man has gone global! Parker Industries is more successful than ever, with offices in New York, Shanghai, London and San Francisco and Peter Parker is racking up the frequent flyer miles with his “bodyguard” Spider-Man in tow, of course. But success breeds enemies and a reinvigorated Zodiac have also widened their scope to threaten the whole world. Join Dan Slott and Giuseppe Camuncoli as they take Spider-Man to the next level! This huge first issue also includes stories featuring Silk, Spidey 2099, Spider-Woman and much more!
ISSUE #1 - 72 PGS./Rated T…$5.99
Issue #2 - 32 PGS/RATED T...$3.99
"THE WORDLD'S GREATEST SUPER HERO," huh? Third best, maybe. But definitely in the top six.
It looks like post-Secret Wars, Spider-Man, who will be one of only about a half-dozen or so various spider-people running around, will get a new costume design. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, and I will probably need to see it drawn by different artists in a few comics before I can make up my mind. It seems to keep the essential elements, though, and adding glowing-eyes isn't much a big deal, but the other lights I'm not so sure about.
Oh, and is that Spidey's Spider-Mobile 2.0 in the second image? Nice.
ANGELA: QUEEN OF HEL #1
MARGUERITE BENNETT (w)
KIM JACINTO and STEPHANIE HANS (a)
COVER BY JULIAN TOTINO TEDESCO
VARIANT COVER BY STEPHANIE HANS
Hip-Hop Variant by Annie Wu
HEL HATH A NEW FURY.
Stolen from ASGARD, exiled from HEVEN, and robbed of SERA, her greatest companion – ANGELA plunges into the depths of blackest HEL to save her friend...and once there, the lost princess of Asgard will carve out a realm of her very own. All hail ANGELA, THE NEW QUEEN OF HEL!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
So I guess Marvel really did make a deal with Neil Gaiman to get Angela just to annoy Todd McFarlane, then? Because they don't seem to have any idea what to do with the character. This is like her third or fourth direction in the–two years? Three?–that she's been around.
TIM SEELEY (W) • Logan Faerber (a)
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
BLANK VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
VARIANT COVER BY TIM SEELEY
Hip-Hop Variant by TBA
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
Hey, that doesn't look like Blade; that looks like a lady! I thought I read somewhere–like, in a headline I scanned–that Marvel would be publishing a new book starring Blade's daughter. If Blade's deal was that he was half-vampire, I wonder what his daughter is? Is she 1/4 vampire? Is there something that could be made out of this regarding racial identity? Maybe.
I always liked the idea of Blade, even if I never stuck with any of his comics too terrible long. I'm not familiar with this artist either, so while this seems intriguing, I'm not sure if it will be for me or not. If I'm trade-waiting though, I should have plenty of time to make up my mind.
JASON AARON (w)
CHRIS BACHALO (a/C)
HIP-HOP VARIANT COVER BY JUAN DOE
COSPLAY VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
YOUNG VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
BLANK VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
VARIANT COVER BY KEVIN NOWLAN
VARIANT COVER BY TOM PALMER
VARIANT COVER BY JOE QUESADA
SKETCH VARIANT COVER BY JOE QUESADA
KIRBY MONSTER VARIANT COVER BY ERICA HENDERSON
Who do you call when things are coming out of your dreams and trying to kill you? Or when your daughter is cursing in Latin and walking like a spider? Or when your dog keeps screaming at you to strangle your neighbors? Doctor Strange, of course. He's the only person standing between us and the forces of darkness, but has he been paying his tab? Every act of magic has a cost and Jason Aaron (THOR, ORIGINAL SIN) and Chris Bachalo (UNCANNY X-MEN) are going to put Stephen Strange through hell to even the scales.
40 PGS./Rated T+ …$4.99
Okay, re-casting Doctor Strange as Dr. Dre on the hip-hop variant cover is pretty awesome. The only one that would possibly be better would be doing a Doggystyle homage on the cover of the Inhumans book, with Lockjaw in the Snoop role.
I can't imagine this book won't be good, and the fact that Marvel put such a high-profile creative team (and are making sure it has a million variant covers, like Amazing Spider-Man and Iron Man, seems to indicate that they want it to be a big deal ahead of the eventual Doctor Strange movie, too.
Still curious about that axe, though...
I suppose it's possible that they will announce more mutant titles in the near future, but none of the X-books solicited for October look the least bit interesting to me.
JEFF LOVENESS (w)
BRIAN KESINGER (a)
Cover by DECLAN SHALVEY
KIRBY MONSTER VARIANT COVER BY CHRISTIAN WARD
• You didn't think we were going to tell the story of one of Groot's adventures without bringing BABY GROOT into the fray, did you?
• With his goal of reuniting with his best friend (and interpreter) Rocket Raccoon within reach, Groot's only got a ship full of mercenaries to contend with. Should be a piece of cake, right?
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
Wait, Groot has a "KIRBY MONSTER" variant cover? Groot is a Kirby monster; every cover of Groot is a Kirby monster cover!
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS(w)
VALERIO SCHITI (a)
Cover by ARTHUR ADAMS
HIP HOP VARIANT is by SHAWN CRYSTAL
COSPLAY VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
YOUNG VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
BLANK VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
VARIANT COVER BY VALERIO SCHITTI
SKETCH VARIANT COVER BY ARTHUR ADAMS
VARIANT COVER BY JASON LATOUR
KIRBY MONSTER VARIANT COVER BY MIKE ALLRED
THE RACCOON'S IN CHARGE!
Peter Quill has abandoned the Guardians and his role as Star-Lord to be Emperor of the Spartax. Rocket didn't wait a single minute to take the reins and become team leader of Drax, Venom, Groot, Kitty Pryde (A.K.A. Star-Lady ?!?!) and new Guardian BEN GRIMM, the everloving THING! 32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
Oh good, a new Guardians of The Galaxy #1. Because that series hasn't been hard enough to follow and/or make sense of in collected form already (I've complained about this before in individual reviews of individual collections, but the large number of #1's and #0's and specials and "#.1's" and so on have given the collections an odd, start-and-stop feeling that makes them almost incoherent, narratively...and I suppose it doesn't help that at least two storylines have appeared not in Guardians of the Galaxy collections, but under the title Guardians of The Galaxy/All-New X-Men–"The Trial of Jean Grey" and "Black Votex." Maybe instead of trade-waiting, everyone should just wait 3-5 years, until Marvel publishes something like a Complete Guardians of The Galaxy By Brian Michael Bendis series of omnibuses or something).
Please note that this has a "KIRBY MONSTER VARIANT" and it will be of Kirby monster-turned-Guardian of the Galaxy, Groot. So that would seem to indicate that the Kirby monster variant on Groot will not be Groot. Huh.
FRANK BARBIERE (w) • BRENT SCHOONOVER (a/C)
VARIANT COVER BY DECLAN SHALVEY
YOUNG VARIANT BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
KIRBY MONSTER VARIANT COVER BY MIKE DEL MUNDO
Hip-Hop variant cover by TBA
DESIGN VARIANT BY TBA
Hidden deep beneath AREA 13 lies the clandestine headquarters of S.T.A.K.E.--a top secret division of S.H.I.E.L.D. housing aliens, mythical beasts, and all manner of extra-normal entities. Under the command of legendary soldier DUM DUM DUGAN, these monsters step out of the shadows and defend the world against supernatural threats too dangerous for normal men as THE ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT HOWLING COMMANDOS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.!
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
I'm always all in for more Man-Thing, and I always enjoy it when Marvel writers find new acronyms kinda sorta related to SHIELD (SWORD, ARMOR, HAMMER). STAKE is a good one for this team, and it seems inevitable they will have to team up with HAMMER at some point; I mean, you need a HAMMER to drive in a STAKE, right?
My friend pointed this picture out to me and I thought she just wanted me to note the presence of Man-Thing, but that wasn't it. "Look closer," she said. Do you guys see it? How one of those things is not like the others? Hint, it has to do with the one character who is definitely not male is posed, in contrast to the others.
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1 & 2
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (w) • DAVID MARQUEZ (a)
WRAPAROUND COVER BY DAVID MARQUEZ (JUL150696)
VARIANT COVER BY ADI GRANOV (JUL150702)
CLASSIC VARIANT COVER BY BRUCE TIMM (JUL150700)
DESIGN VARIANT COVER BY DAVID MARQUEZ (JUL150701)
YOUNG VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG (JUL150703)
6 YOUNG GUNS VARIANT COVER SET (JUL150705)
BY MAHMUD ASRAR, NICK BRADSHAW, DAVID MARQUEZ,
SARA PICHELLI, VALERIO SCHITI, RYAN STEGMAN
BLANK VARIANT COVER VARIANT ALSO AVAILABLE (JUL150697)
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER (JUL150704)
COSPLAY VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE (JUL150698)
HIP-HOP VARIANT COVER BY BRIAN STELFREEZE (JUL150699)
PARTY VARIANT COVER BY YASMINE PUTRI (JUL150710)
PARTY SKETCH VARIANT COVER BY YASMINE PUTRI
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #2 - KIRBY MONSTER VARIANT COVER BY MARK BROOKS
VARIANT COVER BY Alex Garner
Exploding out of the pages of SECRET WARS, one of the most popular super heroes in the world gets a gigantic new series. From the creators that brought you ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN comes new armor, new supporting cast, new villains and a new purpose that is going to tear itself across the entire Marvel Universe and beyond. With a shocker of a last page that will have everyone talking and the return of one of Tony's biggest nemeses, you will not want to miss this!! Also, who are Tony's biological parents? The quest begins here!
32 PGS. (each)/Rated T+ …$3.99 (each)
God, does this book have enough variants? It's not like it's Star Wars or anything...
AL EWING (w) • GERARDO SANDOVAL (a/C)
ISSUE #1 – CHO VARIANT COVER BY FRANK CHO
Hip-Hop variant cover by TBA
BLANK VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
ISSUE #2 – KIRBY MONSTER VARIANT COVER BY SIMON BISLEY
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
EVERYTHING IS NEW. In the wake of SECRET WARS, the old order changeth - and Bobby DaCosta, Sunspot, is just the man to changeth it. Welcome to AVENGERS IDEA MECHANICS - a super-scientific global rescue squad of tomorrow's heroes... today! America doesn't want them! S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't know what to do with them! But Earth might not survive without... the NEW AVENGERS!
32 PGS. (each)/Rated T+ …$3.99 (each)
Is it weird how damn different the concept for every book that uses the title "New Avengers" is...? This is apparently spinning out of a plot point near the end of Hickman's Avengers run, in which Sunspot bought-out AIM and changed it to a force for good, one of several players in the Illuminati vs. SHIELD war. That's an...interestingly weird-ass line-up, one that makes Cap's kooky quartet look a hell of a lot less kooky when compared to Sunspots kooky quintet.
SECRET WARS HC
Written by JONATHAN HICKMAN
Penciled by ESAD RIBIC & PAUL RENAUD
Cover by ALEX ROSS
The Marvel Universe is no more! The interdimensional Incursions have eliminated each and every alternate universe one by one. And now — despite the best efforts of the scientists, sages and superhumans — the Marvel Universe and Ultimate Universe have collided…and been destroyed! All that exists in the vast empty cosmos is a single, titanic patchwork planet made of the fragmented remains of hundreds of devastated dimensions: Battleworld! And the survivors of this multiversal catastrophe all bend their knee to Battleworld's master: Doctor Doom! What strange creatures inhabit this world? Which familiar faces will return? And what happens when Battleworld's various domains go to war? The Marvel Universe is dead — and the victors of the Secret Wars will determine what comes next! Collecting SECRET WARS (2015) #1-8 and material from FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2015: SECRET WARS #0.
224 PGS./Rated T+ …$49.99
ISBN: 978-0-7851-9884-0
Trim size: oversized
Huh. The collection of Secret Wars is solicited for the very same month that the last issue ships.
SECRET WARS: AGENTS OF ATLAS #1
TOM TAYLOR (w) • STEVE PUGH (a)
Cover by LEONARD KIRK
VARIANT COVER BY TBA
SON OF ANARCHY!
• An oppressive domain run by BARON ZEMO!
• The peoples' only hope? An underground group of rebels… GORILLA-MAN! M-11! NAMORA! VENUS! MARVEL BOY!
• But their leader JIMMY WOO…captured!
Can AGENT COULSON help save the resistance or will he lead them to their doom?
40 PGS./ One-Shot/Rated T+ …$4.99
Ask and you shall receive, sorta, I guess. I have a brief interview with writer Tom Taylor and editor Mark Paniccia here, if you're interested.
STAR WARS #11
JASON AARON (W) • STUART IMMONEN (A/C)
ACTION FIGURE VARIANT COVER BY JOHN TYLER CHRISTOPHER
SKETCH VARIANT COVER BY STUART IMMONEN
• Chewbacca Unleashed!
• Skywalker in chains!
• Han Solo...with a ball and chain?!?
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99
Star Wars © Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Text and illustrations for Star Wars are © 2015 Lucasfilm Ltd.
Attention, Tumblr! Marvel's solicitation copy writer/s just referred to a wife as "a ball and chain." I mean, I know this comic is set "a long time ago," but that's still pretty retrograde language, isn't it?
*This is one of those times that I wish the big two would just collect all the variants into "gallery" style comics of pin-ups, so I could just buy that. There aren't many examples shown here–one by Mike Allred, I noticed–but those are some cool subjects, and those are some great creators announced for some of them. For example, All-New, All-Different Marvel Point One #1 has one by Paul Pope. Paul Pope drawing a Kirby monster? That's pretty much exactly what I want from a Marvel comic book.
Ultimate Thor doesn't really talk like that.
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