Despite a small (and rather sad) contingency of Marvel people at this year’s Chicago Comic-Con (you may know this as Wizard World Chicago), there are still a couple of Marvel panels to report on. The first of which happened on Friday afternoon – the Marvel Ultimate Panel – involving news and discussion of the Marvel Ultimate Comics line. In attendance were Jim McCann, Marvel’s PR guru, Lauren Sankovitch, Associate editor (formerly with the Ultimate line), Mark Paniccia, Ultimate line editor, and Mark Millar, writer of many Ultimate books and co-creator of the Ultimate Universe.

The panel started a little late, as Millar walked in and said that he was “taking a poo”. To which McCann replied that they are only 3 minutes late, like many of their books. This pretty much set the tone for the rest of the panel, which was as much filled with witty banter as with actual news on the Ultimate U.

As the laughter died down, McCann said that this is the first panel where they can actually talk about a lot of the Ultimate stuff, now that Ultimatum #5 has finally shipped. The first book coming out with be, as many of you know, Ultimate Comics Spider-Man this Wednesday. Paniccia said that these are his favorite books and Sankovitch said that they are resetting the bar even higher now after Ultimatum. The panel members said look for some huge surprises in Spider-Man from the very first issue. There was also a general praise for David LaFuente’s art on the book.

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After a long hiatus (sorry about that), I’m finally back to bring you more previews of solicited comic books. This time, I’m showing you what to look forward to in August. And boy, is there a lot to be excited for. It seems like the comic book publishers decided that they wanted to get in on the summer blockbuster action and decided to pull out all the stops in August. Some of the biggest titles of the year look to be coming out, so let me break down some of the big ones to keep an eye on.

The Marvels Project #1

The Marvels Project is likely to be the biggest Marvel comic this year, if not the biggest comic of the year period. While Blackest Night over in DC land might overshadow it slightly, The Marvels Project is likely to be the critically acclaimed hit of the year. Much like the smaller, more story-based movie compared to the summer blockbuster, Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting are celebrating Marvel’s 70th anniversary in style, by retelling the origin story of the entire universe! With talent this great and a story to match, how could you not be excited to see what is in store from this limited series?

Batman: The Widening Gyre #1

While much of the DC fanbase will have their eyes turned towards the previously mentioned Blackest Night event, a little Batman book by acclaimed writer Kevin Smith is set to hit the stands. Set to be a 12-issue maxi-series, Widening Gyre will be 2 6-issue story arcs, separated by a 3 month publishing gap. According to Smith himself, the 3 month gap will allow him to start writing an on-going series about one of the characters he will introduce in Gyre. While some might be skeptical about whether the often-late Smith can really pull out this much writing, I have faith and hope, cause this sounds like a great series from one of comic’s top writers.

Daredevil #500

Nothing shouts “70th anniversary” like milestone issues. And dammit if Marvel hasn’t had their share of them this year. From Thor to Cap to Hulk to the up-coming Amazing Spider-Man, this has been the year of landmark issues (and the return to the original numbering). Add to that list Daredevil, which will hit issue 500 this August. What Brubaker has in store for us is anyone’s guess, but it is sure to be a doozey as he ends his legendary run on Daredevil and passes the reigns over to the capable Andy Diggle.

Incredible Hulk #601

Ok, so this isn’t a milestone issue, but the one after, so what gives? Why is this so exciting? Well, I’ll tell you. Greg Pak is returning to Hulk. Yeah, Jeph Loeb is still going to be fucking up the beloved character over in the Hulk book, but hopefully Greg Pak, the man who brought us the amazing Planet Hulk, can restore the green giant to his former glory.

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #1 and Avengers #1

Speaking of Jeph Loeb fucking up beloved things, Marvel’s Ultimate line relaunches as Ultimate Comics in August with the debut of Spider-Man and Avengers. Fan-favorite Brian Michael Bendis continues his outstanding work with Spidy in the Ultimate universe (though, it might not be Peter Parker, if Loeb has anything to do about it). And even better, universe co-creator and certified badass Mark Millar returns to the Ultimate Line with Avengers, a book which is set to focus on groups or characters in the Ultimate universe (no, this is not replacing Ultimates). Millar has stated that each arc of Avengers will be like a mini-events, so this will be a book to watch. Honestly, I’m pissed at what Loeb is doing to my beloved Ultimates line and I disagree with the “relaunch” and renumbering, but with any luck, we’ll survive this editorial mistake and still have a good universe to enjoy.

Blackest Night: Superman, Batman and Titans

With Blackest Night starting in July, DC is set to start releasing their tie-ins to the universe-altering event in August. Can’t say I’m all too excited about the Superman or Titans tie-ins but Batman should be a book to watch. Not only is it written by the great Peter J. Tomasi, but it might just feature the supposedly dead Bruce Wayne as a Black Lantern. We’ll see when the series launches in August, but those following Blackest Night will probably want to pick up at least 1 of these tie-ins.

Amazing Spider-Man #601, #602 and #603

Coming off their own landmark 600 issue, the ASM crew is not slowing down. Starting at issue 601, Mary Jane is back!!! As a huge fan of MJ and one of many who were sorely disappointed at the breakup of one of comic’s most beloved couples, it is great to see that the Spidy writers are finally bringing her back. Likely, she will not be a romantic interest in Peter Parker’s life (at least not right away), but at least she’s back in the fold and the possibility is there. Here’s hoping we also get some more answers about what exactly Mephisto did at the end of One More Day.

Fantastic Four #570

Last but not least (seriously, any other month, an issue like this would be at the top of things to look forward to) is Fantastic Four #570. Why’s this such a big deal? Well, that would be because writer Jonathan Hickman is taking over the writing duties on Marvel’s first family. Not only has Hickman proven himself to be a great writer with his indie work and his outstanding work on Secret Warriors, he’s proven that he can writer the Fantastic Four like nobody’s business with his work on Dark Reign: Fantastic Four. I, for one, am looking forward to him bringing his unique voice to FF and hopefully continuing Mark Millar’s work at bringing the Fantastic Four back to the top of the Marvel line.

You meet someone. Something about their eyes, their presence, the way they move, it shocks you. Gravity is in full force. You seem to take a back seat to a performance, saying the most clever things and dancing effortlessly.

The two of you repeat this process again, only this time the spark is stronger, more real. Every time you open your eyes, your throat dries up just because they are there, doing or saying or simply looking. Even the silent moments are heavy with the sound of your hearts beating.

This is Damon Lindelof sticking it to you. Also a pretty awful pun.

And then they leave for three years. Some reason, I guess. Uh, school. Sure, let’s call it school.

Now and again during that three year period you think back on that time. You even look them up online one chilly August. The memories come rushing back, but memories are pale next to the moment.

You hear they’re back in town, so you call. They’ll be where you first met. Charged with excitement tinged with tremors of trepidation, you go back to that special spot, and there they are.

Washed out, lacking direction, all too willing to rehash old times at the expense of anything new, and sticking you with the bill.

If this feels familiar, it’s probably because you just read Ultimate Hulk vs Wolverine 3. (more…)

Ultimate Hulk Annual Cover

Over the past few months, Marvel has been pushing out a bunch of Ultimate annuals to prepare its readers for Ultimatum. These annuals have been of varying quality. Spider-Man and Fantastic Four/X-Men annuals were pretty decent. Ultimate Captain America annual was… well… not. The much delayed Ultimate Hulk Annual came out this week and is, unfortunately, grouped into the latter category. Apparently Jeph Loeb’s annuals… well… suck. One would think that the writer for Ultimatum would write better tie-ins, but that’s a complaint for another post.

The Ultimate Hulk annual actually seems to focus much more on Zarda, Power Princess herself, of Squadron Supreme. The beginning of the issue focuses on Captain America’s analysis to Tony Stark about whether she is cut out to be on the Ultimates or not. The rest of the issue features her encountering and fighting in the Hulk.

Click through for the rest of my review.

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Secret Invasion #8 Cover

I had two editorials floating around in my head and I had thought about doing them separate. Then, I realized that both ideas tied together quite nicely. One was on the end of Secret Invasion. The other, the beginning of Ultimatum. What is even more interesting is the fact that this is a perfect time to be talking about both of these major stories. Secret Invasion just altered the Marvel Universe in interesting and crazy ways and Ultimatum is set up to do the same in the Ultimate Universe. And, as my title suggest, both events are “game changers”.

Game changers are always interesting, no matter what subject you are talking about. In sports, the game changer makes you stand up and cheer or shake your head in disbelief. When we’re talking about episodic story telling, like in comics, we get much the same reaction. Some marked issue 8 of Secret Invasion as a sign of great things to come. Others felt that we are in for a bunch of… well… bullshit.

So why do writers plan the “game changer”? Well, look no further than Joe Quesada’s own explanation in this past week’s “Cup O’ Joe“, where he said the following:

But the truth of the matter is, we wanted it to be more unpredictable. Being unpredictable, I believe, leads to better storytelling. It’s not clichéd storytelling. Again, we get or characters in a place that readers don’t necessarily expect, get their backs against a wall, and see what happens. Look, at the end of the day, I think that’s what leads to great storytelling—put your characters in a place that readers never saw coming.

I think that anyone who read the end of Secret Invasion and information about what Dark Reign is going to be feels the sense of uncertainty. A sense of unpredictability. Personally, since this is an editorial, this made me so very excited for the next year of Marvel comics and beyond. I immediately decided that I’ll be buying New and Mighty Avengers. I had already decided that Dark Avengers is going to be sweet. So, what did Secret Invasion do for me? It got me into Avengers books. And that, my friends, is a good thing.

Ultimatum #1 Cover

On the other side of the Marvel pond, we have the Ultimate Universe, which just started the Ultimatum big event. It is hard to judge Ultimatum yet, because there’s only been 1 issue thus far, but it’s hard to get as excited as I did for Secret Invasion. And I really, really, really want Ultimatum to be awesome. I love the Ultimate Universe and it has seriously been going downhill recently (except Ultimate Spider-Man, of course. Love ya, BMB). So far, however, things are not looking good for Ultimatum.

First, the delays. I don’t know whether to blame Jeph Loeb for this or artist David Finch. According to what I’ve read, it is because the other Ultimate titles are not lining up correctly with the Ultimatum story and they are not quite ready for the end of Ultimatum. This is quite disappointing. Marvel did a great job keeping Secret Invasion on track, for the most part, and was able to immediately launch into the post-SI/Dark Reign world.

This brings me to my other problem with Ultimatum thus far: it is causing the end of 2 of the Ultimate books, Fantastic Four and X-Men. Now, of course, either one of these books (or both) could both be relaunched, as it is hard to imagine a Marvel universe without these characters, but as it stands right now, these books are gone at 60 and 100 respectively. So what does that leave? Spider-Man and the already announced Ultimate Avengers, which is less like Ultimates and more of a book that will focus on a bunch of different characters. This is not enough to keep this universe going. If this is the big game changer for the Ultimate Universe, it feels more like the game is going to be the end of the universe. And that would be a very sad day.

So, what’s my conclusion? Game changers are good. In fact, they are great. Whether you agree with the change or not, it helps keep things interesting. I was upset about Brand New Day at first. Now, I still don’t know if I agree with a lot of it, but at least Spider-Man is interesting now. In fact, it is one of the most interesting Marvel books right now. However, this game changing events need to be handled correctly and, unfortunately, this is not happening in Ultimatum.

Ultimatum #1 Cover

Months and months and months of anticipation has lead up to this, finally: Ultimatum. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love the Ultimate Universe. However, in recent issues, the quality of the Ultimate Universe has seriously declined and many readers have been lost. In comes Ultimatum, to wipe out the load of shit that the Ultimate U has become and start things fresh, with or without certain teams.

The first issue of Ultimatum hits and hits pretty hard. Within the first few pages, we get the first major event and a whole lot of destruction. We don’t get a whole lot of story progress in the opening shot, though. There’s a lot of set up and Jeph Loeb makes sure that he gets all the major players on stage and ready for the action that will be Ultimatum.

Check out the rest of my review after the break.

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Marvel 1985 #6 Cover

Jeez. It’s Tuesday already? Things have been crazy in this blogger’s life and I haven’t even finished last week’s comics yet and here we are with a new batch already! Hopefully the other reviews on this site have kept you entertained as I attempt to get back to some sort of schedule where I can actually read and review comics. Nevertheless, I am here to preview your Halloween week comics, so sit back, relax and check out these great comics that will be at your LCS this week!

Marvel 1985 #6

On time and everything, Marvel 1985 wraps up this week. How is this crazy story going to end? And will Mark Millar somehow tie this mini-series back to the main Marvel universe? And how about to his other Marvel books right now? All questions will hopefully be answered tomorrow when issue 6 hits the stands!

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Ultimate Origins #5 Cover

I might just be one of the few people that are generally excited about Ultimatum. This is, of course, the first major cross-over event in the Ultimate universe. Being that I have a great amount of love for the Ultimate U, despite the recent disappointing releases in Ultimate Fantastic Four, Ultimate X-Men and Ultimates, I still really love the fresh take on all things Marvel. But, before Ultimatum, we must dive deeper into the history of the Ultimate universe. This is where Ultimate Origins comes in.

This month’s conclusion wraps up the mystery of the Watcher. In addition, it finishes the back stories of Nick Fury and Wolverine, and concludes the origins of the mutants, and finishes up telling about Xavier and Magneto’s past. In other words, it wraps things up and gets us ready for Ultimatum. Or does it?

Click through for the full review.

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Ultimates 3 #5 Cover

I wrote a rant/review of Ultimates a few months back, in which I stated that I believed that people were not giving Jeph Loeb enough credit. I said then that people were knocking on him because he is not Mark Millar, who wrote the Ultimates so beautifully. I actually liked the first 4 issues of Ultimates 3. And somewhere in the months and months and months of delays between 4 and 5, this series went to shit.

In the last issue (don’t ask me how I remember this. I had to back track about 3 issues to remember what the fuck was going on), Magneto took the body of his daughter, the Scarlet Witch, back to the Savage Land with him. Half the Ultimates went to go retrieve the body while the rest stayed in NYC to figure out who shot her. In the process of doing so, they found out Hank Pym is creating robot replicas of all the Ultimates.

After the break, I say “WTF Jeph Loeb!?!?!?” a whole lot.

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Daredevil #111 Cover

Like with my rapid reviews, I am going to skip the long intros and just get right to the meat of the post. Ladies and gentlemen, your weekly previews start now!

Daredevil #111

Is it possible for Ed Brubaker to be any cooler? I don’t really think so, and this month, he is introducing a brand new villain to the Marvel universe: Lady Bullseye. I know you may be think that it sounds kind of lame, like Supergirl or Spider-Girl or any of the many other female equivalents to our favorite heroes (for the record, I actually think that the female counterparts are very cool and interesting, but their names are pretty unoriginal). But this is untrue. Brubaker has crafted an all new character that apparently has a very deep and intricate past, which he will explore in the next arc of Daredevil, as he continues to make that one of the best Marvel books.

More previews after the break!

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