Thoughts on All-New, All Different Marvel

Well, my comic store’s order was lost in the mail, so they didn’t have anything in this morning. I was planning to pick up Age of Apocalypse 3, Thors 3 and We Stand On Guard 3. Only three comics, and all number threes. But since they’re not in and I might not be able to pick them up until next week because of my busy schedule, I might as well talk about all the all-new Marvel titles that have been announced so far. I was going to write a special post each month for this, but since there’s nothing else to blog about this week, let’s do this now.

First off, let’s October’s new titles in alphabetical order, just to make things easier to navigate in case you want to skip through. Unlike Marvel Now in 2012, I won’t be picking up every single title and reviewing all of them; that was exhausting and almost killed my interest in comics for a few months.

Amazing Spider-Man – For a while I enjoyed Dan Slott’s Spider-Man run, but I’m kind of drained on it. Sure, the concept of Peter Parker in charge of a very successful company is a nice change from his tired status quo, but I feel like someone else should take over his title for a while and give Slott a break. I’m undecided on whether to pick this up or not, but I’m leaning towards no.

All-New Avengers – Although Mark Waid’s Avengers run doesn’t really start until November, I might as well include this in October because of the 0 issue. I’m excited about this team. It’s a mix of young and old characters, including Female Thor, Ms. Marvel and Ultimate Spider-Man. This will be on my pull list for sure.

Angela: Queen of Hel – Angela: Asgard’s Assassin is brilliant, and I have no doubt that, even though Kieron Gillen is leaving the title, Marguerite Bennett can easily keep the brilliant streak going. I’m picking this up.

Astonishing Ant Man – Nick Spencer’s brief Ant Man volume before Secret Wars is good. It felt like a mini-series in a way, with some great character development, fun stories and amusing moments. I’m sure this will continue to be good. That said, I’m not sure if I’ll be picking this up. I loved the movie, but I’m not the biggest Scott Lang fan. We’ll see how much else is on my pull list the week this comes out.

Blade – A series that’s equally about Blade and his daughter? I’m intrigued, and I like Tim Seeley as a writer. This is on my probably list.

Captain America: Sam Wilson – Like Scott Lang, I’m not a huge fan of Sam Wilson. He’ll also be in Mark Waid’s Avengers series and that might be enough for me. This isn’t anything against black characters – I’m not the biggest fan of the original Captain America either, and I gave Storm 5 issues to win me over. I probably won’t be picking this up, but hopefully this series will do well both in quality and sales numbers.

Contest of Champions – This is one of the more surprising titles. Named after a video game from the 90’s, this is a series that pits various characters against each other in fights. It sounds like it could be a fun series, but unless an issue features characters I like, I won’t be reading it.

Doctor Strange – This is another character I’m very unfamiliar with. Furthermore, Jason Aaron is one of those writers who I either love or hate; there is pretty much no in-between. His Thor run is brilliant in so many ways, and the first half of his Wolverine run is just fun. I enjoyed the first year or so of Wolverine and the X-Men, but after a while I started to hate it. Overall, I’m not sure about this one and probably won’t decide whether to pick this up or not until the previews come out.

Extraordinary X-Men – Of the October titles, this is the one I’m the most excited about. Jeff Lemire is, more often than not, a great writer. Furthermore, he’s a well-ranged writer, from the horror-like Animal Man series for the New 52 to the fun team book of Justice League United (also known as Justice League Canada). His brief All-New Hawkeye run before Secret Wars is delightful, and when he says in interviews that he’s an X-Men fan, I believe him. The cast also looks good, with Storm leading, Nightcrawler and Iceman hanging around. Old Man Logan and Teenaged Jean Grey could have a very interesting dynamic. But the best part might be Colossus and Magic on the same team again, and bearded Colossus no less. In case you didn’t guess, I’ll be picking this up.

Guardians of the Galaxy – I’ve been on and off on Brian Michael Bendis’s Guardians of the Galaxy run. Some of his stories are fun, and some of them are near torture to sit through. His best Guardians stories are the ones that crossover with the All-New X-men (his Black Vortex issues came in the first half of the event; by far the better half). Kitty Pryde taking over for Star-Lord’s roll after he becomes the president of the Spartax Empire sounds like fun, but I’m not sure about this one. I kind of wish Kitty Pryde would stick around with the X-Men instead of hanging out with the Guardians of the Galaxy, but then again, this isn’t the first time she’s left the X-Men before coming back years later, and at least she’ll be appearing somewhere. Like Ant Man, whether I pick this up depends on how much else is coming out that week.

Howling Commandos of SHIELD – This series sounds like it could be fun, but it’s another wait and see for me.

Invincible Iron Man – I’m not an Iron Man fan, and for me, the movies and any team books he appears in are enough. Not even Kieron Gillen won me over when he wrote his Iron Man run, but he was good enough for me to stick around for the full Extremis story arc even with Greg Land on art. I won’t be picking this up, but I hope for Tony Stark fans that this series is good.

Karnak – I don’t care much about the Inhumans, and I care less about one I know nothing about. This is a big “Nope” for me.

New Avengers – I’m not sure how to feel about this one. I’m not overly familiar with any of the characters in this book, so I’ll wait until the previews come out and decide from there.

Spider-Gwen – I enjoyed Spider-Gwen so far, so I’ll probably give this a chance.

Spider-man 2099 – I enjoyed what I’ve read of Peter David’s Spider-Man 2099 run so far. I kind of fell out of it after Secret Wars, but I might just return back to this title when it releases. That’s not a guarantee, but it’s a maybe. After all, I’ll need something to replace my Amazing Spider-Man, so it might as well be something written by Peter David.

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl – I’ve heard so many good things about this series pre-Secret Wars, but haven’t bothered to pick it up. Maybe I’ll pick it up in trade, but probably won’t pick it up at first.

Uncanny Avengers – The Unity squad is an idea that I like; a team made up of characters from different franchises within the Marvel Universe. Rick Remender’s Execution in his first volume was … let’s just say I enjoyed it less with each issue. Perhaps with a new writer this series can win me over. I’ll at least give this a chance.

Uncanny Inhumans – As stated with Karnak, I don’t care about the Inhumans. Old Beast joining the team doesn’t do much to win me over since he’s become quite the monster in recent years. Although Charles Soule’s run on the title is fairly well received, so hopefully this comic will be good for its fans.

Now for November, and overall, I’m more excited for November than October. That’s partly because All-New Avengers properly starts in this month, but mostly because of the two X-Men titles announced so far that I’m most excited about.

All-New Hawkeye – This is a weird looking one. Now, Clint Barton is an old man and there’s a rift between him and Kate Bishop? Jeff Lemire’s Hawkeye run is a lot of fun so far so I’ll give this a chance too, but I am a bit concerned about this one.

All-New Wolverine – To properly explain how excited I am for this title, allow me to give a brief recap of my history as a comic fan. X-23 is the character that brought me into comics, and at that time, issue 6 of her solo series had just released. X-23 7 is the first single issue that I ever bought. It’s been several years since Laura has starred in a solo series, and now she’s doing so while also taking on Wolverine’s mantle. She’s finally shedding the number that the facility gave her, while simultaneously honouring her father figure. Every interview that’s come out so far, whether from writer Tom Taylor or Captain Marvel artist David Lopez, sounds like they both understand and care about her as a character. Even while typing this paragraph, I’m finding it hard to sit still because of how excited I am for this series. Even if it’s just ok, I’ll pick this series up from start to finish.

All-New X-Men – Everything about this series sounds good to me. The teenaged X-Men on a road trip to define their own destiny, check. Dennis Hopeless as the writer, who’s proven that he’s good at writing teenaged characters, check. He’s even proven that he understands the teenaged X-Men fairly well through his X-Men Season 1, and he wrote a good X-23 during Avengers Arena (excluding her Leeroy Jenkins charge in that one issue). I even like that Evan and Oya are joining the team. Sure, they’ve been mishandled in Wolverine and the X-Men, but they’re potentially great characters in their own right and they fit perfectly with the theme of this book. So yeah, I’ll be picking this one up.

Black Knight – I know virtually nothing about Black Knight, so I probably won’t pick this up. If the previews look good I might, but no promises.

Carnage – it’s kind of unclear exactly what kind of series this is. If this is a horror comic with Carnage as the main villain, then I’m interested. Anything else and I’ll probably skip. Question for anyone reading this, is this supposed to be an ongoing or is it just a mini-series?

Deadpool – I really didn’t enjoy Deadpool’s Marvel Now debut. Despite being a comedy series, I didn’t laugh once in the second issue and dropped it from there. With at least one of the same writers behind this series, I probably won’t be picking this up. For those who have enjoyed Gerry Duggan’s run though, I hope you enjoy this one too. Meanwhile, I’ll continue reading Joe Casey’s run; I just bought Deadpool Classics volume 4 and will start reading it today.

Drax – I’m not convinced that Drax can hold down his own series, but we’ll see. This is one I probably won’t pick up.

Hercules – Although I probably won’t be reading this, I’m glad that Hercules is getting a new series. Marvel’s version of Hercules is a lot of fun and Dan Abnett is usually a good writer.

Howard the Duck – Is this a Howard the Duck series written by the artist of Sex Criminals? Colour me intrigued.

Illuminati – From what the descriptions say, this looks like a pure villain book. A villain book could be a lot of fun, but it’s not really my cup of tea. Tea isn’t either; I don’t drink tea, but you know. This is another title I probably won’t pick up, but I hope it does well regardless.

The Mighty Thor – Jason Aaron’s Thor run, from Thor: God of Thunder all the way to Secret Wars’s Thors is consistently good and often brilliant. Needless to say, I’m picking this up and anyone who considers themselves a Thor fan should give his run a chance.

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur – I just … what is … I honestly have no idea what to think of this one. We’ll see how the preview looks, and how big my pull list is that week.

Ms. Marvel – G. Willow Wilson’s Ms. Marvel is simply delightful, and I’m sure it will continue to be delightful. Kamala Khan is basically a modern day teenaged Peter Parker in that she’s trying to balance her life between school, family and being a superhero. Now that she’s also going to be an Avenger this might be more difficult, but I’m sure we’ll all enjoy it. Yet another title in November that I’m very excited for.

Nova – I don’t care much about Nova, neither the mantle nor Sam Alexander as a character. That said, this series looks like it will be fun for those who do care. I wish this series well.

Silk – I haven’t read any of Silk’s series yet, but I’ve heard so many good things about it. Maybe I’ll pick the first volume up in trade. As for the new volume, add it to my maybe list.

Spider-Woman – Last week’s Spider-Woman 10 is up there with my favourite comics of August. Hulk Cows, need I say more? Furthermore, a pregnant Jessica Drew raises so many questions. I’m sold.

Star-Lord – I would have preferred a series that continued with Peter Quill’s journey rather than what seems to be either an addition to his origin story or a change to his origin story. I don’t know about this one, but I’ve enjoyed most of Sam Humphries’s Star-Lord series so far, so I might give this one a chance. We’ll see how the previews look first.

The Ultimates – Yet another team book I’m looking forward to. This is a team made up of Marvel’s most powerful superheroes, including Captain Marvel, Miss America, Blue Marvel and Spectrum. This series sounds epic, and I like how they’re using an Ultimate Universe team name for this. In other words, I’ll be picking this up.

Venom: Space Knight – I preferred Venom when he hung out on Earth, but he led to a few good Guardians of the Galaxy moments after he joined the team. Flash acting as an ambassador between Earth and the rest of the galaxy could make for an interesting comic. In short, this is yet another maybe for me.

The Vision – The Vision has plenty of fans so I’m sure this series will find an audience. Although I don’t dislike the character, I’m not a fan either, so this gets a no from me.

Web Warriors – Is this actually an ongoing series? If so, I’m interested.

And now for the other titles which are announced, but don’t have an official solicitation yet. I’ll answer all of these with one or two sentence reactions, and I’ll likely expand when their solicitations are released. These are in no particular order.

A-Force – This looks like so much fun.

Captain Marvel – I’m definitely looking forward to this.

Totally Awesome Hulk – This is such a weird 90’s title, and while I’m sure this could be fun, I probably won’t pick this up.

Scarlet Witch – This is a maybe for me, leaning towards no at the moment, but we’ll see how the solicitations and previews go.

Daredevil – Charles Soule proved that he can write a good lawyer comic with She Hulk, so I’m sure he’ll do it again with Daredevil. I’m not a fan of the character though, so this probably won’t be on my pull list.

Agents of Shield – The only issue I’ve read is the one with Ms. Marvel, and I really liked it. By that time, it was almost impossible to track down other issues. Then again, I’d kind of rather stick to the show, so I’ll probably skip this one unless an issue features a character I like.

Squadron Supreme – With Avengers and Ultimates already on my pull list, I probably won’t pick this up. Although the concept looks compelling, it probably won’t be for me.

Uncanny X-Men – I like the concept of this book, I really do, and I usually enjoy Cullen Bunn’s writing, but Greg Land is a huge turnoff. This might be the first X-Men team book in a while that I won’t give a chance to.

Old Man Logan – The reason I stopped reading Wolverine after a while is that I suffered Wolverine fatigue. Now that I’ve had a break, I’ll probably give this at least a few issues to win me over.

Black Panther – I’m glad that he’s getting a new series; the more diverse comics available, the better. That said, I probably won’t be picking this up; not really a fan.

Gamora – This series is still coming at some point, right? I hope so, and it’ll be on my pull list if it is.

If I’m missing anything, let me know and I’ll add it to the post. In the meantime, here’s a quick summary of the titles and whether I’m picking them up or not.

Definitely yes – All-New Wolverine, All-New X-Men, Ms. Marvel, All-New Avengers and Spider-Woman.

Yes – The Ultimates, Gamora, Extraordinary X-Men, All-New Hawkeye, A-Force, The Mighty Thor, Angela: Queen of Hel and Captain Marvel.

Probably – Carnage, Old Man Logan, Uncanny Avengers, Blade, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Man 2099, Howard the Duck and Web Warriors.

Maybe – Astonishing Ant Man, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Howling Commandos of SHIELD, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Moon Girl and the Devil Dinosaur, Silk, Star-Lord and Venom: Space Knight.

Probably not – Captain America: Sam Wilson, Contest of Champions, Black Knight, Deadpool, Drax, Hercules, Illuminati, Totally Awesome Hulk, Daredevil, Agents of SHIELD, Squadron Supreme, Uncanny X-Men and Black Panther.

No – Karnak, Uncanny Inhumans, Invincible Iron Man, Nova and The Vision.