Pull List - April 1st, 2015

Amazing Spider-Man #17
(W) Dan Slott (A/CA) Humberto Ramos
• The Ghost has invaded Parker Industries!
• With this super-powered saboteur, no secret is safe-- no PEOPLE are safe, either, for that matter.

Avengers #43

(W) Jonathan Hickman (A) Mike Mayhew (CA) Adam Kubert
IN TWO MONTHS...TIME RUNS OUT!

Cyclops #12

(W) John Layman (A) Javi Garron (CA) Alexander Lozano
• If power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, whaddaya think near-infinite cosmic power granted by the Black Vortex does?
• Jean Grey is about to find out, which spells very bad news for both Jean Grey-- and the universe!
• But there's one man who might be able to stop her, who might be able to save her... except in this case it's not exactly a man, it's a 16-year-old space-pirate-in-training and (maybe) the love of Jean Grey's life... Scott Summers.
• Can Cyclops save the day? Maybe. But we can't guarantee he'll survive the experience.

Uncanny Avengers #3

(W) Rick Remender, Gerry Duggan (A/CA) Daniel Acuña
• It was a perfect day on Counter Earth, then Sabretooth showed up.
• The Avengers are divided; the hunt for their missing friends unearths a terrible secret.
• What evil lurks on the moon of Counter Earth?

Uncanny Inhumans #0

(W) Charles Soule (A/CA) Steve McNiven
• The industry's best-selling artist comes to the Inhumans!
• The prelude to one of Marvel's biggest launches of 2015 is here!
• Think you know Black Bolt? Think again, as the men who killed Wolverine show you a side of the Inhuman King you've never seen before!

Wolverines #13

(W) Ray Fawkes, Charles Soule (A) Jason Masters (CA) Guillem March
THIS IS IT! THE MOMENT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!
• Make sure to pick up this issue for the DEBUT of a very special guest.
• Also, special appearances by some of your favorite Marvel Universe heroes (and even some villains).
• But what will the Paradise and Wolverines team think of the return?

Secret Wars Pre-Event Analysis

So Secret Wars is happening over at Marvel. It is an 8-issue event series, affecting just about every other book that Marvel publishes in its 616 universe of titles. Rumors swirled that this was a reboot of sorts for the continuity. I still don't know whether that will be the case or not. Let's go over what we do know.

• The Marvel Universe (and all multiverses and timelines) are being destroyed and mapped into a single planet known as Battleworld. Each continuity exists as its own country on this planet.
• Most of the existing series taking place in the Marvel Universe are being ended and starting in May will be replaced by series which seem to homage previous events. For example, Infinity Gauntlet and Planet Hulk.
• After having seen all the current replacement series, I can safely say that not a single 616-er is the focus or among any of these series. These are series about non-616 versions of 616 characters or in some cases characters that Marvel hasn't used for decades (Weirdworld).
• These series are advertised as series and not mini-series, which means they have the potential to keep going after Secret Wars has ended.

We have seen something similar to this in the past with the Age of Apocalypse storyline in X-Men during the 1990's. Each of the major X-Men titles were replaced by mini-series which told new and interesting stories from that timeline. The existing continuity ceased to exist and then after the event was over, the previous continuity continued. There is a major here and that difference is intriguing.

• A lot of these are advertised as ongoing series, rather than minis-series. How can these series work on their own if after the event, things go back to some semblance of normalcy? Will Battleworld exist separately from the Marvel 616 Universe? Will these warzones as they are described be transported back to their own place in the timeline and multiverse after the event is over? I think that seems more likely.

Don't forget that X-Man become a series after Age of Apocalypse ended when the titular character was transported to main-line continuity, but that was more of a surprise than expectation.

Other interesting tidbits include:

• Marvel is saying that these series will have legs and affect what kind of outcome Secret Wars has. Is Marvel really going to do a Survivor-esque game to determine what the future Marvel looks like based on the sales of these new ongoing series? If 1872 sells the most of all the other titles, will the new Marvel Universe become a Western-themed one? That's a strange thought. How would they be able to accommodate a Western-setting with alternate versions of Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and Bruce Banner in the new 616 that may appear out of the end of Secret wars?
• There isn't a single X-Men series announced so far which includes an exclusive creator as the writing lead. I don't mean writers who only write for Marvel, but those who have signed an exclusive contract and therefore are put on the most high-profile books and take part in the Writer summits that occur several times a year. Sure we have Old Man Logan by Brian Michael Bendis, but that storyline was known as a Wolverine book with very few X-Men in it. We still have House of M, I believe, as the last outstanding series that would be X-Men-related and could be considered a major X-Men replacement.
• There is no Daredevil. Sure there was mention of a Daredevil in one of the series, but there is no book with Daredevil as the lead. A privilege the character has enjoyed for decades. Rumor has it that Daredevil is not affected by Secret Wars, however Daredevil is conspicuously absent from the latest June solicitations.

Ultimately, I think Marvel is using this event to try to throw some new ideas and concepts at the wall without having to rely on their core 616 characters (who I assume will all be stuck in the Secret Wars mini-proper). There are some exceptions to that idea, namely Ultimate End, Thors and Inhumans: Attilan Rising, all of which include 616 references of one kind or another. We can easily explain Ultimate End as taking place during the incursion between 616 and Ultimate Marvel. However, Thors and Inhumans: Attilan Rising both use references to the existing female Thor. Maybe it is only the Warzone titles which won't include 616 characters, while the Battleworld titles won't have such a restriction. 

At this stage, who can say? This is all horribly confusing and I wish Marvel would provide more clarity in their intentions. I don't want spoilers or the ending of the Secret Wars event ruined for me. What I want is assurances on which books are the most important to the publisher. As a Marvel fan who is mostly concerned with continuity, I would find that most comforting. Right now, the only thing I have to go by are which titles have exclusive creators on them. Those include:

Ultimate End	Bendis
Old Man Logan	Bendis
Guardians of Knowhere	Bendis
Inhumans: Attilan Rising	Charles Soule
Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows	Dan Slott
A-Force	G. Willow Wilson
1872	Gerry Duggan
Mrs. Deadpool and the Howling Commandos	Gerry Duggan
Infinity Gauntlet	Gerry Duggan
Age of Ultron vs. Marvel Zombies	James Robinson
Armor Wars	James Robinson
Thors	Jason Aaron
Weirdworld	Jason Aaron
1602: Witch Hunter Angela	Kieron Gillen
Future Imperfect	Peter David, Greg Land
Star-Lord & Kitty Pryde	Sam Humphries
Planet Hulk	Sam Humphries

Future Imperfect is iffy, if only because Peter David has a history of not working on high-profile titles within the publisher or being a major fixture at the Marvel summits. Greg Land, however, is known to work the more high-profile titles within Marvel. That combination is why I included Future Imperfect. 

Rick Remender is conspicuously absent from any of these Secret Wars shenanigans. Maybe he sees it as a good time to take a break and get some creator-owned work completed. I also expected Tom Taylor to be present, since he is writing Superior Iron Man, but he is also missing. I don't know for sure if he is an exclusive creator at this point in time, but working on Iron Man does make him a high-profile creator for Marvel. Also missing is Mark Waid, though I have no idea what his future plans with Marvel are after his exit from Daredevil takes place. Maybe just Star Wars comics.

Weekly Comics Pull - 8/14/2013

Batman #23

(W) Scott Snyder (A) Greg Capullo & Various (CA) Greg Capullo

Witness the moment Bruce Wayne becomes Batman as "Zero Year" makes history! And in the backup story, a young Bruce Wayne fights for his life in a death match in Russia!

 

 

Justice League of America #7

(W) Geoff Johns, Jeff Lemire (A) Doug Mahnke, Christian Alamy (CA) Doug Mahnke

TRINITY WAR CHAPTER 4! The hunt for a murder suspect leads Superman and his new teammates to the secret behind the Secret Society, while Batman finds the key to the crime-and one of the Leaguers will be forever changed by it. Plus, who is the Secret Society of Super-Villains and what are their plans for Pandora?

 

 

Fantastic Four #11

(W) Matt Fraction, Christopher Sebela (A/CA) Mark Bagley

• The Fantastic Four...trapped in a doomed universe!
•  Spacetime have had quite enough of the First Family of the Marvel U running rampant across her! Things are about to get cosmically punitive.
•  Could someone or something be behind the illness that's befallen the First Family?

 

 

Infinity #1 (of 6)

(W) Jonathan Hickman (A) Jim Cheung (CA) Adam Kubert

The oversized kickoff to the year's most anticipate Blockbuster summer event, chaning the way you view the Marvel Universe!
•  The outbreak of war on two fronts: Earth and Space, with our heroes torn between them.
•  The world-shattering return of Thanos!
•  Includes material from FREE COMIC BOOK DAY: INFINITY

 

 

Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #2

(W) Christopher Yost (A) Marco Checchetto (CA) Paolo Rivera

SIBLING RIVALRY BEGINS HERE!
•  Because you demanded it! Parker versus Parker! The Superior Spider-Man Versus Scarlet Spider!
•  Kaine has come to New York to check on Peter's 'superior' behavior, not realizing Doc Ock has taken over Peter's life. But Ock sure knows who Kaine is...Kaine, the man who once KILLED Doctor Octopus. And now it's payback time.

 

 

Uncanny X-Men #10

(W) Brian Michael Bendis (A/CA) Frazer Irving

• SHIELD has a new agent and she's a fan favorite mutant...
•  Cyclops loses full control of his powers on the streets of Los Angeles.

 

 

Wolverine #8

(W) Paul Cornell (A/CA) Alan Davis

PART ONE OF KILLABLE!
•  It all starts here, the biggest Wolverine event in years!
•  Wolverine thinks a cure has been found...but it's in Wakanda, where he's not exactly a welcome guest!
•  Meanwhile, Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. are working on even bigger problems that Wolverine might have caused.
•  Guest-starring Storm and Black Panther!

 

 

Wolverine and the X-Men #34

(W) Jason Aaron (A/CA) Nick Bradshaw

THE HELLFIRE SAGA CONCLUDES!
•  Wolverine and the X-Men face Mystique, Sabretooth and the Hellfire Club!
•  What fate awaits the Jean Grey School students who joined the New Hellions?
•  The WOLVERINE AND THE X-MEN landscape is redefined!

Weekly Marvel Comics Pull - 7/24/2013

Captain America #9

(W) Rick Remender (A/CA) John Romita

• With the only way back to Earth slowly closing forever, Captain America must make the hardest decision of his life.
•  A new ally from the past arrives, and makes everything worse.
•  Zola's plot is hatched, humanity in the crosshairs.
•  The final days Dimension Z are here, and if Steve Rogers escapes intact, he will never be the same again. 

 

 

New Avengers #8

(W) Jonathan Hickman (A/CA) Mike Deodato

"LORDS OF CHAOS"
•  As casualties pile up in the ongoing war between Wakanda and Atlantis, an Illuminati member is forced to make a hard choice.
•  An Inhuman learns of the Illuminati's plans.
•  Prelude to INFINITY: Everything falls apart. 

 

 

Superior Spider-Man #14

(W) Dan Slott (A/CA) Humberto Ramos

• It's SUPERIOR SPIDER-MONTH as the biggest new book of the year brings you its biggest twist yet!
•  The Superior Spider-Man takes down Shadowland.
•  All of it. To the ground. 

 

 

Uncanny Avengers #10

(W) Rick Remender (A) Daniel Acuña (CA) John Cassaday

Ragnarök Now continues!
THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF DEATH are unleashed! 

 

 

Wolverine #7

(W) Paul Cornell (A) Alan Davis (CA) TBD

• After the events of Wolverine #6, Logan must adjust to a very different kind of life.
•  How will his friends and rivals respond to his new status quo?
•  Guest-starring Storm and Beast! 

 

 

Wolverine and the X-Men #33

(W) Jason Aaron (A/CA) Nick Bradshaw

THE HELLFIRE SAGA CONTINUES!
•  Searching for answers of how the JGS students left the school, the X-Men look to the very ground they walk on.
•  The X-Men discover that Krakoa, the island that walks like a man, can fight like one, too.
•  Meanwhile, Quentin remains the most sought-after student at the Hellfire Academy. 

 

 

Weekly Marvel Comics Pull - 7/10/2013

Daredevil #28

(W) Mark Waid (A/CA) Chris Samnee

• There was one man young Daredevil feared and now Matt Murdock is representing him in court. 

Indestructible Hulk #10

(W) Mark Waid (A) Matteo Scalera (CA) Paolo Rivera

"BLIND RAGE" PART 2!
•  DAREDEVIL guest-stars!
•  HULK vs. urban crime! 

Superior Spider-Man #13

(W) Dan Slott (A/CA) Giuseppe Camuncoli

Part Three of "No Escape"!
•  Superior Spider-Man teams up with the Lizard!
•  Mayor Jameson demands that Spider-Man KILL the Spider-Slayer! 

Uncanny X-Men #8

• School is in session!
•  Last issue, the Uncanny X-Men saw what can happen with no control over their powers. It cannot happen again.
•  Plus, Cyclops and Magneto finally have it out!

Wolverine #6

• Wolverine fights to save Nick Fury and escape from the helicarrier - while trapped on the ocean floor!
•  And at the end, Wolverine's world is changed forever!
•  We're not kidding - this is an issue you DEFINITELY don't want to miss!

Weekly Marvel Comics Pull - 6/26/2013

All-New X-Men #13

• The All-New X-Men find themselves face-to-face with the UNCANNY AVENGERS!
• Young Cyclops meets the adult version of the little brother he thought he may never see again. 

Captain America #8

RICK REMENDER (W) • JOHN ROMITA JR (A & C)
THE MAIN EVENT!
Steve Rogers has one chance to set any of this right! Broken, beaten and near dead he must defeat Zola or all is lost!
Plus, the reveal of the year! A character you never expected reemerges.

Daredevil #27

MARK WAID (W) • CHRIS SAMNEE (A/C)
• RED. DEAD. REDEMPTION.
• Two years of the most critically acclaimed series in comics…and it’s all been leading to this moment.
• ‘Close your eyes, Matt Muirdock. Take a deep breath. And feel everything you know slowly close in on you.’

  

Deadpool #12

Concluding the 2nd arc of MARVEL NOW! Deadpool! • Can Wade trust hell to keep their side of his contract? • Will all of Deadpool's new friends end up dead because of him? • Are turkey sandwiches better than ham? • 2 of these 3 questions will be answered!

Guardians of the Galaxy #4
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (W) • Sara Pichelli (A/C)
• The biggest surprise hit of the year continues as critically acclaimed artist Sara Pichelli (Ultimate Spider-Man) climbs aboard!
• Gamora is one the galaxy’s greatest warriors…with a deadly secret that could bring down the entire team.

Nova #5

JEPH LOEB (W) • ED MCGUINNESS (A/C)
Variant cover BY Mr. Garcin
• The origin of the most talked about new character of the year comes to a shattering conclusion.
• Jeph Loeb and Ed McGuinness, two of the most popular creators in comics, bring you an Infinite-ly dramatic turning point in the life of Nova as he discovers that something out in the galaxy is threatening everything he knows.

 

Uncanny X-Men #7

• Dormammu's machinations have pulled all of the UNCANNY X-MEN into the hellish dimension LIMBO!
• Can Magik match the evil demon's lord's sorcery? Is she even on the X-Men's side anymore? 

Wolverine #5

Drowning Logan' starts here! • SHIELD agents everywhere, but not a comrade in sight! • Wolverine finds himself trapped on a helicarrier - and it's plunging into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean!

Wolverine and the X-Men #32

HELLFIRE SAGA PART 2!
• Wolverine has plans for the Bamfs...
• Meet the new Hellions! 

X-Men #2

• The school is on lockdown...but if the bad guys can't get out, neither can the X-Men!
• John Sublime is back, but is one of the X-Men's scariest villains not who we should be afraid of?
• Who or what is Arkea?