With the recent announcements about “Inhumanity,” the aftermath “banner” title of “Infinity” doesn”t it seem like things are moving a little fast toward October? Sure, we always get our solicitations three months in advance, and yeah, that”s going to lead to a little future thinking on books that haven”t even started (or debuted in some cases), but Infinity looks dense. If it”s anything like Jonathan Hickman”s current Avengers stories, I feel like I”m going to need a road map or just some CliffNotes to get through this upcoming epic and here we are, already talking about what”s to come after. It can certainly be overwhelming.
October is a month of change at Marvel, so join us as we look into the October Solicitations and see just how much of this change we should hate and fear! Onward, brave Marvelites!
I wasn”t exaggerating about that month of change thing, or maybe the solicits are, because that seem to be a theme throughout several books. We start off with INFINITY #4 and #5 (of 6), the penultimate chapters of this six-part cosmic extravaganza. We”ll be “negotiating the fall of worlds” and “the war for Earth begins” respectively, making me wonder that if the war for Earth starts here, what in heaven”s name have we been doing up to this point? One more issue to go and the war starts now?
Infinity #4
Wow, we”ll be nearly through with this seemingly crazy deep story devised by Hickman. I”m kind of terrified, but at least I”ll get some backup answers and some extra fleshing out from his Avengers books and the 12 total tie-ins this month. It”s a lot of books but, for some reason, I feel like I”m going to need some of them. Not all, of course, but this is a bigger story than solicits have been able to describe, which makes me wonder how it”s all going to condense down, issue by issue. See, sometimes that thinking ahead can overstretch your expectations and cause doubt rather than excitement when it really boils down to just reading the book when it comes out. It”s one thing to pour over these snippets and cover images, looking for answers or at least a guide line toward what we”ll be reading and another to simply lean back, take a deep breath and find courage that it”s going to be good no matter what they tell us now.
Reading these solicitations can be difficult, but at least Kieron Gillen (at least, that”s who I think is writing these) keeps it real for YOUNG AVENGERS #11:
• Is Kate Bishop an enemy in waiting? Is this the last we see of the loveable/strangleable Kid Loki?
• Are rhetorical questions a cheap device when writing solicits? All answers revealed, except the last one, which you”ll have to work out by yourselves.
I do, sir, I do every month.
In more event excitement, we”ll also be getting the end of Hunger, the Ultimate universe wides-cope story line, in HUNGER #4 (of 4):
THE BEGINNING OF THE END???
• Has RICK JONES failed to stop Earth from destruction?
• The death throes of a universe!
• A hero reborn? The road to CATACLYSM starts here!
Wait, road to Cataclysm?
CATACLYSM #0.1
CLASSIFIED!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99
AUGH! Well, at least I know where Rick Jones has been in the Ultimate Universe.
Superior Spider-Man #20
More change! MORE CHANGE! Superior Spider-Man is going for another grand twist of plot in SUPERIOR SPIDER-MAN #19 by Dan Slott and Ryan Stegman, where the “Necessary Evil” story line will conclude with a moment that will change “[the] world of Spider-Man– and the Marvel Universe for years to come.” Remember how I said it just might be the solicits messing with our heads on all the hype? Anyone else but Dan Slott behind the wheel and I”d roll my eyes and ask to pull the other one but, let”s face it, the man has a track record of crazy Spider-Man stories. OK, so it”s just been this one, but the Otto-Peter twist has lasted longer and been stronger a plot line than I think most might have suspected. Leave it to Slott to really pull off some major changes and makes us hate him (please don”t hate him).
In more Spidey news, we”ll be getting a mini-series in a Marvel Knights rebranding with MARVEL KNIGHTS: SPIDER-MAN #1 (of 5) with Matt Kindt from Mind MGMT and Marco Rudy from DC”s Swamp Thing. They talk more about it here, but this new line seems to be more fringe-styled “indy comics” goodness that”s separate from the regular 616 and less the dark black cover pontificating it had gotten to with previous miniseries like Sub-Mariner: The Depths or Spider-Man: Reign. The MAX imprint is looking a little thin these days, so I wonder if a Marvel Knights line of comics billed as mini-series with by smaller print creators might be a marketing compromise.
Then again, this is also the month that FANTOMEX MAX #1 (of 4) debuts, so maybe I”m jumping the gun on the demise of the MAX line.
Meanwhile, even more change (MORE CHANGE!) arrives in the X-Men”s event, “X-Men: Battle of the Atom” Parts 6 through 10. Oy. X-MEN #6 reminds us that in a pitched fight between the past, present and the future, “Rachel Grey is the only X-Man qualified to defeat the mystery opponents!” Hoorah, we didn”t forget about her! UNCANNY X-MEN #13 by Brian Michael Bendis and the stately billed ‘Christopher Bachalo” will be bringing in our “surprise ending that changes everything in the X-Men Event of 2013″ and X-MEN: BATTLE OF THE ATOM #2 (of 2) with Jason Aaron and Esad Ribic will be concluding said X-Men event of 2013 with an already poised eye on the major X-Men stories for 2014. Event books, the song that never ends …
This is only the smallest of smatterings of what”s to come in October from Marvel, so please avail yourself of the full October solicitations and tell us what you”re really looking forward to. Is it all this CHANGE!?! Or something as simple as the DEADPOOL BY JOE KELLY OMNIBUS HC, which will collect the finest Deadpool stories ever written and also Deadpool #900 (I kid, I kid). Are you interested to see how the Marvel Knights turn out as unique visions of popular characters or are the bevy of Thor books and trades and variant covers this month have you psych”d for Thor: The Dark World released in November! Rally your favorite change! Excelsior!