Marvel's January previews reviewed

AVENGERS #12
JASON AARON (W) • ED McGUINNESS (A)
COVER BY ALAN DAVIS
...
THE ALL-NEW SECRET AVENGERS!
It’s hard to run the Avengers without a support staff. And for a team as wild, weird and insanely powerful as this new Avengers squad, just one Jarvis would never do. Luckily, Black Panther has assembled the wildest and weirdest support staff you’ve ever seen. Meet Gorilla Man, Ka-Zar and the rest of the Agents of Wakanda.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

I just read the first collection of Aaron, McGuinness and all-the-fill-in-artists-necessary-to-allow-McGuinness-to-be-the-"regular"-artist-on-a-series' Avengers title, and thought it was pretty great...but was also pretty much just plot, and thus the sort of comic that I couldn't really get a feel of where it would or could go from there, so I wasn't sure if I should buy the second volume too, or just trade-wait it. What say you guys...?

I like this cover. Before reading the solicitation copy, I thought maybe those guys up there were The Avengers, or a The Avengers. I like a bunch of them a whole lot, and anything that gets Gorilla-Man or any of Jeff Parker's Agents of Atlas line-up back in circulation again is fine by me (I just re-read What If? #9 the other night, the issue featuring the 1950s Avengers that was basically The Agents of Atlas and 3-D Man, and I'll probably be posting at some length about that comic and those characters in the near future).


AVENGERS #13
JASON AARON (W) • Andrea Sorrentino (A)
COVER BY Steve Epting
CONAN VERSUS MARVEL VILLAINS VARIANT COVER BY MIKE MCKONE
...
FEATURING THE IRON FIST OF 1,000,000 BC!
ANDREA SORRENTINO JOINS SERIES WRITER JASON AARON another flashback tale of the Prehistoric Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Meet the primordial woman who was the first to harness the power of the heart of the dragon Shou-Lao, becoming the very first Iron Fist.
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Oh, never mind. The part I liked least about Jason Aaron's Avengers was the idea of the Avengers 1,000,000 B.C., and how their make-up determined the current line-up. Well, the idea was fine, I guess, but I felt the story arc spent far too much time with those characters, who were basically a pretty fun idea that could have been exhausted in a few pages. So a whole comic devoted to one of those Avengers? Pass.

...

Unless it was Ghost Rider 1,000,000 B.C., who was a burning skeleton riding atop a flaming woolly mammoth. That character I am interested in learning more about.

And I am not a fan of Andrea Sorrentino's art. At all. The most frustrating part of Secret Empire was, for me, trying to figure out what was supposed to be happening on Sorrentino's pages.

So look for Avengers Vol. 2 and future collections of this series in the "borrowed" section of "A Month of Wednesdays" columns rather than the "bought" section.

Note the sublet difference in this variant cover theme versus one of those from last month: This is Conan versus Marvel villains. I wonder if Marvel had to publish a new Conan comic, or if they could have gotten the license just to reprint all the excellent Dark Horse stuff and then use him on variant covers...?

CAPTAIN AMERICA #7
TA-NEHISI COATES (W) • Adam Kubert (A) • Cover by ALEX ROSS
...
“FUGITIVE” BEGINS HERE!
SUPERSTAR ARTIST ADAM KUBERT JOINS TA-NEHISI COATES FOR THE NEXT DRAMATIC DEVELOPMENT IN THE LIFE OF MARVEL’S SOLDIER SUPREME!
Captain America — wanted for murder! And the victim is a familiar face in the Marvel Universe! How? Why? You’ll have to read to find out!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Well, I bet it's not Stingray.

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1
JASON AARON (W) • MAHMUD ASRAR (A)
Cover by ESAD RIBIC
PARTY VARIANT COVER BY MAHMUD ASRAR
Variant Cover by GREG HILDEBRANDT
Teaser Variant Cover by ESAD RIBIC
PREMIERE VARIANT COVER BY ESAD RIBIC
Variant Cover by GERARDO ZAFFINO
Variant Cover by Daniel Acuña
Variant Cover by Jesus Saiz
Variant Cover by Bill Sienkewicz
Variant Cover by John Cassaday
Variant Cover by Kirbi Fagan
Variant Cover by Adi Granov
Action Figure Variant Cover by John Tyler Christopher
VARIANT COVER BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
BLANK VARIANT COVER ALSO AVAILABLE
BY CROM, THE GREATEST SWORD-AND-SORCERY HERO RETURNS TO MARVEL!
From an age undreamed…hither came Conan the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandaled feet…
Robert E. Howard’s creation returns to comics, in an epic tale as only MARVEL could bring you! Conan’s travels have brought him to the far reaches of the unkown, from his birthplace in Cimmeria to the kingdom of Aquilonia and all in between. As his fighting prowess allows him to carve his way through life, so too does it attract the forces of death!
The all-new ages-spanning saga begins here, by writer Jason Aaron (THE MIGHTY THOR, STAR WARS) and artist Mahmud Asrar (UNCANNY X-MEN, ALL-NEW, ALL-DIFFERENT AVENGERS), as Conan’s destiny is forever changed!
48 PGS./Parental Advisory …$4.99

Conan returns to Marvel Comics with...15 covers...?! I don't remember the exact count--it was higher by about 10-15 though, I want to say--but this first issue reminds me quite a bit of the return of the Star Wars franchise to Marvel. Hopefully this one works a little differently than their reclaimed Star Wars license, which sold gangbusters for a while, and then plummeted down to your basic okay-comics-sales-by-today's-standards-levels.

Of course, I'm going to assume comparing Star Wars to Conan is like comparing space apples to Hyborean oranges, as the former is one of the biggest brands in the world and the latter's more of a niche thing for a niche audience. Additionally, it's pretty unlikely Marvel would even attempt to over-exploit the Conan property the way they did the Star Wars one, diluting it into a nigh impossible line to follow/collect. Although, I guess I should never bet on Marvel not finding away to stripmine fan interest in a particular character or concept. We could very well be talking about Conan 2099, Conan: Gold, Deadpool Vs. Conan, Conan Adventures, Conan and Hercules: Punchin' Buddies, Spider-Geddon II: Conan The Spiderrian, Conan and Namor: The Brave and The Bare-Chested and The Fantastic Four But With Conan Instead of The Invisible Woman Now.

We'll see. I can definitely wait for the trade on this series, as I tired of the comics after a few years worth of Dark Horse's run, my interest only occasionally piquing for the presence of particular creators being involved, and Aaron and Asrar don't interest me on a Marvel Conan in the way that, say, a Ryan North and GURIHIRU Conan comic might.

Hmm...Conan, Star Wars...what old franchise will Marvel reclaim next? G.I. Joe? Transformers? Godzilla? Alf?

Or mayhap this:

TRUE BELIEVERS: CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1
Reprinting Conan the Barbarian (1970) #1
32 PGS./Rated T …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: CONAN — THE TOWER OF THE ELEPHANT #1
Reprinting Conan the Barbarian (1970) #4
32 PGS./Rated T …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: CONAN — THE DEVIL-GOD OF BAL-SAGOTH! #1
Reprinting Conan the Barbarian (1970) #17
32 PGS./Rated T …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: CONAN — SWORDS IN THE NIGHT! #1
Reprinting Conan the Barbarian (1970) #23
32 PGS./Rated T …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: CONAN — CURSE OF THE GOLDEN SKULL! #1
Reprinting Conan the Barbarian (1970) #37
32 PGS./Rated T …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: CONAN — QUEEN OF THE BLACK COAST! #1
Reprinting Conan the Barbarian (1970) #58
32 PGS./Rated T …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: CONAN — THE SECRET OF SKULL RIVER #1
Reprinting Savage Tales (1971) #5
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: KING CONAN #1
Reprinting King Conan #1
40 PGS./Rated T …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: WHAT IF CONAN THE BARBARIAN WALKED THE EARTH TODAY? #1
Reprinting What If? (1977) #13
32 PGS./Rated T …$1.00

TRUE BELIEVERS: CONAN — RESURRECTION #1
Reprinting Conan the Barbarian (1970) #187
32 PGS./Rated T …$1.00

Remember what I said about not being interested in Marvel's Conan comics? That definitely does not apply to these True Believers $1 reprints, of which I want to read them all, especially What If Conan The Conan The Barbarian Walked The Earth Today?, which I see there was originally created in 1977*, which is a long, long way from "today."


FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD SPIDER-MAN #1 & #2
TOM TAYLOR (W) • JUANN CABAL (A)
CoverS by ANDREW C. ROBINSON
...
Spider-Man is the worst neighbor EVER! There are always crazy villains and property damage and drama and…and he CATCHES the villains. And he tries to fix the damage and he helps carry your groceries and actually that property damage keeps the rents down. You know what? Spider-Man is the best neighbor ever and this book will give you a closer look at Spider-Man’s (and Peter Parker’s) neighborhood than any book ever. Also, it wouldn’t be a Spider-Man adventure without a threat that could destroy not only Spider-Man, but all his neighbors. Superstar writer TOM TAYLOR (X-MEN RED, ALL-NEW WOLVERINE, Injustice) and rising art star JUANN CABAL (ALL-NEW WOLVERINE, X-23) give you the most local Spider-Man ever!
32 PGS. (EACH)/Rated T …$3.99 (EACH)

So the last All-New Wolverine creative team on a new Spider-Man series...? Okay, that's not t he team I would have expected on this particular title, but I can see that working. Cabal is a really, really good artist.

ICEMAN #5 (OF 5)
SINA GRACE (W)
NATHAN STOCKMAN (A)
Cover by W. SCOTT FORBES
• Iceman vs. Mr. Sinister, winner takes all!
• Mr. Sinister finally has Iceman where he wants him.
• But Iceman isn’t out for the count yet, as everything Bobby has learned has led up to this moment!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Oh. The return of Iceman was just a miniseries? I must have missed that. I assumed it was going to be an ongoing, especially since it doesn't seem to have a sub-title. I wonder if the idea is to do a series of miniseries, the way Dark Horse used to handle so many of their ongoing series....?

INVADERS #1
CHIP ZDARSKY (W) • CARLOS MAGNO & BUTCH GUICE (A)
Cover by BUTCH GUICE
...
THE GREATEST GENERATION OF MARVEL HEROES IS BACK – TO STOP ONE OF THEIR OWN!
In commemoration of Marvel’s 80th anniversary and springing from events in the pages of AVENGERS and THE BEST DEFENSE, the Marvel Universe’s first super-team is back! CAPTAIN AMERICA. THE HUMAN TORCH. THE WINTER SOLDIER. NAMOR. They fought in WORLD WAR II together as THE INVADERS. But now NAMOR is the enemy, a global threat more powerful than ever. His deadly plans are as deep and far-reaching as the ocean and REVELATIONS about his past could THREATEN the MARVEL UNIVERSE! It’s up to his old teammates to stop him, but what chance do they have against the man who knows their every move? "War Ghost” begins here!
40 PGS./Rated T …$4.99

I kind of love these characters, and while I didn't think the last Invaders title--the one written by James Robinson--was all that great, I did like the limited series that Alex Ross and company had put together about...God, was it ten years ago or so now...? I'll be quite curious to see how Chip Zdarsky, all of whose comics I have read have been at least 50% comedic, takes on a group of characters not particularly known for their senses of humor.

Right now, I am hoping that the Namor who did the bad thing isn't the "real" Namor, because I have a hard time believing the real Namor would ever wear that stupid-looking armor...

TONY STARK: IRON MAN #8
DAN SLOTT (W) • VALERIO SCHITI (A)
Cover by ALEXANDER LOZANO
...
• You’re not really wearing a jetpack, user. It’s a game.
• You’re not really shooting someone and stealing their car, user. It’s just a game.
• You’re not really taking that drink, Tony Stark…
• Do not miss this issue of Iron Man. “Digital Demon in a Bottle” is literally a game changer!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

While not as hilarious-looking as the original "Demon in a Bottle" cover, that is a pretty fancy and nice-looking Iron Man cover. It sounds like this will be about Tony encountering some sort of video game in which he can drink, and that unlocking his alcoholism. But, personally, I hope that it turns out it is about Tony attempting to overcome a new digital addiction: Candy Crush, perhaps, or Farmville.



*Well, the solicitation copy seems to imply that the issue was published in 1977, but comics.org, where I got that cover, says that issue came out in 1979, and '77 was simply the year the series launched.