Marvel's Recent Number Ones

Earlier this week, we talked about DC Comics' first issue sins. Marvel commits its own. Far too many of their recent first issues (we're looking at the past three months or so) aren't really jumping-on points at all! Rather, a lot of these are part of some crossover event (or other plotline) already in progress, and if you're not following that story, it feels like you're missing something. Look, it's normal for new series to spin off from big events, but that's not what's happening here. Anyway, let's look at 9 new Marvel series to see which will be worth following monthly.

All-New Captain America by Rick Remender, Stuart Immonen and Wade von Grawbadger. I have no problem with the Falcon taking on Captain America's mantle, especially since he's not giving up the wings to do it. New ideas for action scenes, and so on. On a character basis, it's harder to say because the first issue is almost non-stop action. It looks nice (Immonen and von Grawnbadger are an excellent team), but aside from some voice-over captions and a flashback to Wilson's preacher father, there's not much to go on. The new Cap shares the page with the new Nomad, who happens to be Steve Rogers' super-fast grown son from the alternate dimension where I left Rogers when I quit the previous series very early on. The pair-up feels a little like Dick Grayson-Batman and Darian-Robin Lite. And they better not have just killed Batroc (though they definitely killed his accent, booo). The old Cap is in the background running the missions, in case you're actually a Steve Rogers fan. So a perfectly competent superhero action book, but it definitely means to continue plots from a previous iteration I wasn't reading.
Keep reading? Not enough there to keep me interested. People invested in the previous series will likely like what's going on moving forward though.

Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier by Ales Kot and Marco Rudy. WHAT THE HELL. Cap's OTHER sidekick/partner also gets a new series, already on its second issue, and it's completely bonkers. Now, I like Ales Kot well enough, and he's proven to be quite good at covert ops kind of stuff (Zero being the prime example), but this is complete lunacy. Normally, I'd be quite keen on the story of a covert agent going all around the Marvel universe - outer space, other dimensions, magical realms, etc. - on whatever mission took his fancy. But is this really the right character with whom to tell such a story?! Rudy's painted art has some incredible layouts, and is told in huge, if slightly muddy, splashes that somehow don't compress the story because the writing won't let it. It's not that the comic is dense, but rather than we keep jumping from one situation to the next. It's full of ideas, but they're disjointed. I'm interested in its energy, but keep pulling back because I don't understand how Bucky Barnes, a gritty realistic hero, can be involved in any of these adventures. I like the book, but not who it's about, if that makes any sense.
Keep reading? I liked both issues, and have half a mind to keep going, but everything is just a bit... off, you know?

Captain America and the Mighty Avengers by Al Ewing and Luke Ross. It's part of Axis, which is absolutely the worst way to start a new superhero series. Here's what I think I know of this event: The Red Skull decided to play Hate-Monger and whatever device he was using caused a moral inversion in various heroes and villains. The villains who gained a conscience are all getting mini-series, it looks like, which is fine. For the heroes who have temporarily turned anti-hero, it's not. This series should more appropriately be called Captain America VERSUS the Mighty Avengers, because Sam Wilson is Axised out of his mind, which will not only act as a turn-off for this series, but for his own where he's perfectly on-model (despite the fact that series AND Axis are both written by Rick Remender). And it's too bad Ewing is strapped with this false representation of the character because the series otherwise has several things going for it, including henchmen arguing with the now goodie Plunderer, a varied ethnic cast (in the Mighty Avengers itself), funny captions, and pundits using the Twitter arguments against FalCap right on the first page. I like what Ewing is doing in Loki Agent of Asgard, and this could have the same vibe. It'll just need for Axis to resolve itself before finding its real voice.
Keep reading? Doubtful. I shy away from all Avengers and X-Men books because they're always snagged in some event or other. That CA&TMA actually starts with such a snag is proof enough that I can't trust it to tell its own stories for very long.

Deathlok by Nathan Edmondson and Mike Perkins. Edmondson is always very good at doing covert ops stories. He has a handle on the lingo, does his research, etc. But seeing as I'm already reading his Black Widow, do I actually need another Edmondson covert ops book? I don't really know this Deathlok, and almost wish he was still a character who lived in the near future, which would distinguish it from similar books. Unlike a lot of other books reviewed in this article, however, Deathlok doesn't tie into other events (good) and shows a bit of his personal life (he's a single father to a teenage daughter; again, good). There's also the question of who he's ACTUALLY working for, which is a standard but intriguing mystery for this kind of book. Perkins' art is a bit soft and grimy for my tastes, but I like his layouts and how he incorporates Deathlok's HUD into the panels.
Keep reading? Maybe. But I'm not a fan of shoot-'em-up stories, which the first issue definitely was. So probably not.

Guardians 3000 by Dan Abnett and Gerardo Sandoval. With the Guardians of the Galaxy's star on the rise, and fans of the original iteration complaining that Star-Lord etc. weren't THEIR Guardians, it was only a matter of time before the 30th-century group got its own series. Dan Abnett is a great choice to write it because he's got lots of experience with SF superheroes, most notably The Legion and Hypernaturals (which I really liked). Right away, he makes the year 3014 distinctive with its own lexicon and crazy hyper-science, and taps into what I've always liked of the franchise back in the day, the way it uses Marvel Universe elements (Cap's shield, Tony Stark's A.I., Galactus' new herald, Annhililus' descendent, etc.) as fun continuity references. (I poached this approach for my 28th-century Justice Legion role-playing campaign.) Fans of the current Guardians may be a bit confused as to who these guys are, the only recognizable name Yondu's, but it's easy to catch up thanks to our point-of-view character Geena, who may just hold the key to what's really going on in the story, with twists that may yet redefine who some of the Guardians are.
Keep reading? To my surprise, yeah! Both issues were a lot of fun, which I think it what readers are now expecting from the Guardians name. (Is the GotG series any good, by the way? And Star-Lord, and Rocket Raccoon? I haven't sampled them.)

Hawkeye vs. Deadpool by Gerry Duggan and Matteo Lolli. Hawkeye is on such an intermittent schedule (6 months between issues 19 and 20), a second book in the same style isn't one too many. Obviously, it's not quite as sharp as the Fraction/Aja award-winner, but it has its moments. Deadpool isn't as meta as I want him to be, but there's one particularly hilarious moment near the end of #0 that takes the piss out of Hawkeye's avant-garde story-telling style that made me laugh out loud. And before I knew it, I'd read two more issues. Kate Bishop also features strongly, so that's nice. The comedy stems more from buddy movie banter, but I do wish Lolli's amusing and expressive art would be a little more consistent with its portrayal of Hawkeye's current struggle with deafness. Sometimes he needs Deadpool to pull his mask up so he can read his lips (and yuck, by the way); other times he must be able to read them when it's down. And then there are time when the characters say it's up and it isn't, or vice-versa. Not as clever as the parent series, certainly, but mistakes aside, still pretty entertaining.
Keep reading? Well I got this far (third issue) from a single joke in the first one, so... Keep going? All signs point to yes, though it's no substitute for the main Hawkeye book.

Spider-Woman by Dennis Hopeless, Greg Land and Jay Leisten. Is it damning with faint praise if I say the book wasn't as bad as I thought it would be? I liked Jessica Drew's recent appearances in Hawkeye and Secret Avengers, and Hopeless writes her much the same, a somewhat jaded superhero, all sass and no patience. She's funny, no-nonsense and generally pissed-off. I really like her. Greg Land, I dislike immensely, but he seems to reign in the worst of his proclivities, with few postures you'd be able to point to as traced over pornography. The real problem is the one discussed above: The series starts in the middle of the Spider-Verse crossover event. So Jess - and Silk, and various other Spider-Girls - is running around the multiverse from page 1, and if you don't follow the event, it's just the weirdest thing. Now, I'm enjoying Spider-Verse, that's not a problem, but just what will Spider-Woman be ABOUT once that wraps? Who will be in it with Jess, what will the focus be? Unknown. And THAT, more than Land's inability to make lips match up (page 16, panel 1) is the problem.
Keep reading? I'm following Spider-Verse, so yes, but once that's over, the book will have another trial issue.

Superior Iron Man by Tom Taylor and Yildiray Cinar. No Axis logo on the cover, but make no mistake, Tony Stark has been morally inverted. Superior is essentially Tony Stark if he'd learned nothing and was still the character we saw at the start of the first Iron Man movie. Does that appeal to you? It's actually not bad. Taylor's been making his living turning goodies into not-so-goodies in Injustice and Earth-2, but he doesn't have to go too far off-model with Tony. Mostly, it's techno-savvy, with lots of interesting applications for Iron Man tech and appearances by more heroic characters to balance things out. Unlike Bad Falcon, who's just an ultra-conservative parody, this Iron Man is funny, charming and the most despicable of capitalists. A hero(?) for the times. It shocks without being violent (I'm actually surprised), has something to say about our culture (not something deep necessarily, but I can't say that about every comic on the stands), and asks questions I want to see answered.
Keep reading? The "Superior" brand better not become diluted through over-use, but this series isn't a threat to its seal of quality. I'm back on the Iron Man wagon.

Thor by Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman. Nope, I don't have any problem with a female Thor. In fact, I quite liked her, whoever she is. I'm glad we're two issues in, because the first isssue basically ends with her appearance. Not a lot to go on as we say farewell to Thor Odinson (in a particularly DC kind of way... whatever). So the premise is that no one can lift the hammer anymore, certainly not Thor, and it's abandoned on the Moon following the events of Original Sin. The Asgardians leave, a woman's hand reaches for Mjolnir, and lo and behold, she is worthy. Who is she? The second issue doesn't tell us either. That's fine, it's a neat mystery, and I like how she SPEAKS as Thor, but thinks as a human being, surprised at the information her Thor self imparts. So she's not normally a goddess, but she can survive on the Moon. Place your bets! It gives a human touch to a series that often lacks it, behind its wall of thees and thous, but there's plenty of Norse action too, with Frost Giants bursting out of the ocean floor and causing mayhem. I really liked Dauterman's art on Superbia, and he brings the same slick pencils, detailed action and quirky expressions to this book.
Keep reading? Yes, I definitely want to see who Thor really is, but beyond that, how she handles the joys and lows of being the Goddess of Thunder.

So Marvel fares a little better than DC does, usually by bringing a sense of fun to the table. Next week, we'll look at some books from less mainstream labels and publishers.