Three big chapters of Death of the Family hit this week! In Batman #14the Joker told Batman his deadly endgame! Bruce’s friends and allies are all marked for death. Only one of Batman’s friends knows what’s happened to Alfred (for now.)
DC Comics revealed this image from inside this Batman #15 by Greg Capullo. Barbara, Dick, Jason, Damian and Bruce are gathered in the Batcave to learn the horrible truth of Alfred. As Death of the Family continues it appears friendships and alliances are staring to break and crumble.
In Batman and Robin #15 it’s Joker vs. Damian! The Clown Prince of Crime may have met his match in this ruthless new Robin.
Batgirl #15 courtesy DC Comics
The biggest Death In The Family tie-in may feature…a wedding? Barbara Gordon faces the Joker for the first time since he shot her in Batgirl #15. What kind of sick wedding does the Joker have planned for Barbara? I hope she gets her shot at revenge.
Which ally will die? Will a member of the Family break Batman’s rule and kill the Joker?
Matt Fraction and Mark Bagley launched Fantastic Four #1with heart, humor and thrills. Reed is taking Marvel’s First Family on a new adventure through time and space but he’s hiding the real reason behind the sudden trip – and it’s a heartbreaker.
Before Reed, Sue, Johnny, Ben and the kids blast off they must recruit a new FF to take their place. Marvel shared preview art for this week’s Fantastic Four #2. Medusa, She-Hulk, Ant-Man and She-Thing are taking over for Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny in a brand new FF title by Fraction and Mike Allred. This next issue shows us how Reed recruited his “replacements.”
Fantastic Four #2 courtesy Marvel
I’ve always been in love with Medusa. She may be my favorite redhead in comics (maybe after Jean Grey?) The Queen of the Inhumans will be a perfect mother figure for the kids of the Future Foundation.
Fantastic Four #2 courtesy Marvel
I ‘m loving She-Hulk and Ben Grimm pumping iron! Jennifer served as Ben’s replacement back in the John Byrne era.
Fantastic Four #2 courtesy Marvel
Ant-Man (Scott Lang) may be the one friend Reed can share his secret with? The two men share a bond of science and being fathers. Scott could find the key to cure Reed somewhere in the microverse?
One of the X-Men’s most colorful enemies is coming back with a vengeance!
Marvel invites you to Avengers Arena #1 by Dennis Hopeless and Kev Walker this week. Sixteen young heroes are trapped in a game devised by the only and only Arcade! Marvel’s best and brightest young heroes will be in the fight of their lives on Murder World island.
The X-Men have escaped Arcade’s deadly traps before but some of these kids may not be so lucky.
“Arcade has spent a lot of years building “Murder Worlds” that yield very few actual murders. He’s decided it’s time to get back a little self-respect. It’s time for a new kind of Murder World. AVENGERS ARENA is about the unlucky kids he’s chosen to help him try it out,” says Hopeless.
“I don’t want to give too much away, but I can promise a lot of murder in this new Murder World.”
Editor Bill Rosemann reveals the contestants: “Fans of AVENGERS ACADEMY will hopefully be excited by the next chapter in the lives of Hazmat, Mettle, Reptil, Juston and his Sentinel and X-23. Speaking of schools, who are the Braddock Academy? After his last appearances in War of Kings and NOVA, Darkhawk soars again! Staying with sci-fi, just wait until you see what Dennis and Kev have planned for Annihilation’s Cammi, baddest girl in all the galaxy. And last but certainly not least, direct from the pages of the dearly missed RUNAWAYS, we have Chase and Nico!”
“It’s sort of ridiculous how huge our cast is at the start. But if you’re going to kill a lot of characters you gotta have a lot of characters,” Hopeless adds.
I love all the kid characters but you had me with ARCADE! Avengers Arena #1 lets the games being this week.
The most un-X-Men-like X-Men book I’ve read in a while is this week’s X-Men #39. Domino needed a vacation from her team so she decided to infiltrate an underground casino for criminals. The lucky lady crossed paths with Daredevil and in this issue the duo track down the weapons dealer in an action and humor packed conclusion.
Domino has always been a sidekick – she’s a feisty, sexy chick with guns and luck but not a ton of depth. Neena is lucky that Marvel decided to have Seth Peck write her with a dynamic, funny personality that makes her pop off the page. Neena and Matt’s chemistry sparks in this two-parter. I want to see her guest star in Daredevil now.
Peck deserves accolades for this caper and for how he made me feel about the villain of this two-parter. This secret of Armitage was a big surprise.
All of the art is top-notch! David Lopez’s cover is an in your face pop classic. Paul Azaceta and Matthew Southworth’s bold lines and dark colors really compliment Domino and Daredevil’s underworld adventure.
If this two-parter was an Seth Peck’s audition for Marvel then imagine me giving him a standing ovation! Domino pops and she deserves her own title or team-up book starring Neena! Any hero would be lucky to share an adventure with her!
Marvel – bet on Domino, Peck, Azaceta and Southworth you’ll win big!
The Force is strong with Brian Wood. The acclaimed writer (The Massive, Northlanders, X-Men, Ultimate Comics X-Men, Conan) will take on a new comic book series set during the original trilogy for Dark Horse Comics. Check out the cover to Star Wars #1 by Alex Ross!
Being a huge Star Wars and Brian Wood fan I wanted to share some of his exclusive interview with The Nerdist about writing in the galaxy far, far away.
“The biggest challenge is actually writing it under the shadow of reader expectation. And doing right by Randy Stradley, my editor, who has written a fair share of Star Wars himself, and that can be intimidating. When I started the job, I had this idea that Star Wars fans would be really hardcore and nitpicky and, to be frank, ready to challenge my work. Then I went to Star WarsCelebration, this convention, and I had one of the most positive experiences of my professional life. Everyone was super nice, very receptive to what I’m doing, and I felt like I belonged in a way that comic book conventions don’t. I came home from that show determined to write 10x on this title.
And I’m more of a fan of Star Wars than I was aware. Thirty-five years of exposure to it, I guess, creates an impression as well as a huge about of information stored in my brain that is only just now proving its worth.”
For the entire interview and a first look inside here’s the link on the always enjoyable Nerdist.
Watch out for the collection of Wood’s X-Men run with artist David Lopez – one of my favorite storylines of the year and the BEST portrayal of Storm since Claremont – yes I just said that!
Young Avengers #1 by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie will pop with McKelvin amazing style. Marvel will celebrate the relaunch with variant covers by Stephanie Hans, Trent Moore, and Bryan Lee O’Malley (Scott Pilgram versus The World).
Marvel.com shared O’Malley’s cool variant showcasting the teenage dreams of the Marvel Now.
Kid Loki assembles Miss America, Marvel Boy, Wiccan, Hulking and Kate Bishop for his new team.
An all-new Young Avengers will assemble in 2013. The Marvel Now revamp of the team will include some new members including Kid Loki. Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie talked with Marvel.com about their plans for Marvel’s young heroes.
Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung’s Young Avengers is highly acclaimed and loved (especially by yours truly.) Gillen revealed how this new team and title are different.
“Any time I try to describe Young Avengers I sound like I’m having a full neurotic breakdown. I loved Allan Heinberg’s Young Avengers and would never try to duplicate it. That was a book about being 16, looking up to the Avengers like parents. This is a book about being 18 and entering the world on your own terms.”
The Heinberg/Cheung team broke up after Avengers: The Children’s Crusade. The new kids are brought together by Loki (like the original Earth’s Mightiest Heroes) but with a wicked twist.
“The other Avengers books are about big organizations. Young Avengers is about the ideal of Earth’s mightiest coming together.”
“At the end of Children’s Crusade, the traditional Young Avengers agreed they shouldn’t be doing this anymore. The prime mover in getting everybody back together is Kid Loki. He’s recruiting Miss America and people to essentially kill Wiccan.”
One of the new faces is Miss America from Joe Casey’s Vengeance series.
“Miss America is very…violent. She’s been a super hero longer than anybody knows, and she’s not doing it to be famous. The question of what she knows about Wiccan is the big mystery of the book.”
Young Avengers #1 courtesy Marvel
The earlier volumes were recognized by GLAAD for their portrayal of young gay heroes Wiccan and Hulking. The troubled teens in love will be part of the new team.
“Wiccan and Hulkling are the core romantic couple of Young Avengers. Wiccan is phenomenally powerful in ways people don’t understand. He makes a mistake early on and that drives the book. It’s almost a Hank Pym plot in how he creates all his own problems.”
“Hulkling is creeping out at night to do super hero stuff. He figures he has a talent and should be using it.”
“I love drawing Wiccan and Hulkling, their emotional interactions as well as the punching,” added Jamie McKelvie.
Kate Bishop was attracted to Patriot Gillen has recruited the fiery former Marvel Boy to be on the team and her potential love interest.
“Kate Bishop starts the book off to one side with Noh Varr. They’re a B-plot to the first part. Noh Varr has been kicked out of both the Kree and the Avengers, but he’s back on Earth, because nobody ever told James Dean what to do. He’s a hipster alien.”
Gillen stresses this book is not just about teen romance.
“I’m trying to create a book that covers anything connected to youth in the Marvel Universe. I have ideas of a larger infrastructure down the line. I don’t want to over promise though. It’s a book with a focus that can move. You’ll see with issue #6.”
“I knew how the book felt before I knew what the story was. I saw Marvel Boy and Hawkeye waking up. The first night with a strange new boy. She pulls the curtain and they’re in orbit. It’s a perfect metaphor. You take teenage emotions and transform them into the hyper real.”
Young Avengers #1 courtesy Marvel
Gillen wrote about Kid Loki’s search for identity in Journey Into Mystery and will continue exploring that them in this book.
“The question of ‘who can I become?’ remains key to Loki and to the book. Not quite in the same way it was in Journey Into Mystery, but still there.”
Wiccan is on the team but what about his brother: Speed?
“Hopefully. There’s a reason he’s not there to begin. I didn’t want to overload the cast and not just have somebody there to have them there. I like them Speed. I plan to come back to him around issue #6. Where he is gets covered briefly in the first issue.”
Like most teens the young heroes will have a hangout – a diner.
“Super powers is the most important thing in Young Avengers. The second most important thing is breakfast.”
Young Avengers #1 courtesy Marvel
The Young Avengers often clashed with their elders in the previous volumes. Will the kids meet the adults in the new series?
“The Avengers are in issue #2 briefly. It’s hard to explain without giving away the plot…where the Young Avengers are going, they can’t be helped. I don’t want to say much more than that. Parents and growing up are key to the book.”
For the entire liveblog here’s the Marvel.com link.
Director Bryan Singer really is getting the old gang back together for X-Men: Days of Future Past. Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and Hugh Jackman will reprise their roles in the sequel. Movieweb reports that 20th Century Fox wants Halle Berry and James Marsden back for the next movie. I had predicted Halle Berry could be next to reprise her role as Storm but Marsden is a welcome surprise.
In the comic book version of Days of Future Past:
In a future ruled by Sentinels – Storm, Magneto, Colossus, Kate “Kitty” Pryde, Rachel Summers (daughter of Scott and Jean) and Franklin Richards (son of Reed and Sue of the Fantastic Four) are in a concentration camp. Logan leads the resistance movement. Rachel (has telepathic powers like her mother) sends Kitty’s mind into the past to warn the X-Men of the past about an upcoming act of terrorism by evil mutants that will start a chain of events leading to the dark future. While the past X-Men try to stop the assassination – the future Logan, Storm, Magneto and Colossus lead an assault on Sentinel Headquarters. The final battle of the older X-Men is epic!
Could this mean Daniel Cudmore and Ellen Page could return as Colossus and Kitty since those characters are critical to the storyline? Famke Janssen (Jean Grey) could have a cameo too.
Cyclops was killed by Jean (in Dark Phoenix mode) and Jean was killed by Wolverine in The Last Stand but if producers decide to use Rachel in the movie this could be a way to erase those deaths (and Professor X’s death.)
I’ve been hoping this film could serve as a reboot for the entire franchise (like Star Trek) and you can start over.
