All-New, All-Different Marvel (Part 5 of 5) - The Grand Finale

INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #1 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Marquez

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5 – I really like this Iron Man design.  I am amazed that even though Marvel is constantly changing Iron Man’s look, for the most part, I typically always enjoy what they come up with.  There was a lot of speculation on who would be wearing the Iron Man armor after SECRET WARS, but the teaser images for this book definitely look like Tony Stark to me. 

I love that IRON MAN has become one of Marvel’s big characters thanks to the movies.  He was always just “there” for most of the time I read comics.  They would do desperate gimmicks like “let’s make him a teenager” in any attempt to get him some attention.  With Bendis writing this book, you know it will be one of Marvel’s key books moving forward.   My only real gripe about this is that I was really enjoying SUPERIOR IRON MAN.  It was just such a wicked take on superheroes.  Maybe it didn’t fit Tony Stark all that well, but it was a lot of fun to read, especially the way he was screwing with poor Daredevil.

THE TOTALLY AWESOME HULK #1 by Greg Pak and Frank Cho

Excitement Level: 3 out of 5 – My friend and colleague Grey Scherl says that this will probably be Amadeus Cho, which makes sense with Greg Pak writing it, especially with what happened in the PLANET HULK tie-in for SECRET WARS (Cho accidentally irradiated all of “Greenland” with Gamma radiation).   Honestly, Hulk has just never been a book I’ve ever cared enough to read regularly.  I do like the character, but in small doses.   But, I will probably check this one out.  I didn’t like THOR all that much, but I tried it for the new Thor, and I really enjoy that book.

I kind of hope that this change ends up being long term, but I have my doubts.  Right now, we have a new Thor, new Captain America, new Spider-Man (yeah, I know, Peter is still around too), new Wolverine, new Nova, etc, etc.  I enjoy most of these characters, but, I constantly wait for Marvel to go back to the old versions, which for me would be a huge mistake. 

KARNAK #1 by Warren Ellis and Geraldo Zaffino

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5 – I typically have no interest in the Inhumans, but Warren Ellis always gets my attention.  I always thought Karnak’s power was pretty cool (able to find the flaw in anything and exploit it), and I suspect in Ellis’s hand that can become a really cool place to build storylines from.  This is the first time I’ve ever had any books involving the Inhumans on my pull list (unless you count Ms Marvel).

MS. MARVEL #1 by G. Willow Wilson, Takeshi Miyazawa, and Adrian Alphona

Excitement Level: 5 out of 5 – Speaking of my favorite superhero who shares a hometown with me.  KAMALA KHAN IS BACK!  I love this cover, with Kamala rocking Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America’s gear.  She’s an Avenger now, and this should bring some fun new twists and turns into her life.  MS. MARVEL more than lives up to the hype, and I am already looking forward to this series, even if the current series hasn’t quite ended yet.  Make Mine (Ms.) Marvel.

NOVA #1 by Sean Ryan and Cory Smith

Excitement Level: 3.5 out of 5 – I’ve always have an affinity for young heroes.  Books like YOUNG AVENGERS, YOUNG JUSTICE, and RUNAWAYS pretty much always end up on my favorite comic lists.  I know a lot of people miss Richard Rider.  I actually am one of them.  The first comic I ever bought for myself was AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 351, which featured Nova and Spider-Man fighting the Tri-Sentinel.  And then Nova stuck around for a while longer for the “Round Robin” storyline.  And I also got into NEW WARRIORS because of Nova. 

BUT, despite my love of Richard Rider, I still have enjoyed Sam Alexander’s adventures as Nova.  Like I said, I like young hero books, and even though there were quite a few creative team shifts on NOVA, for the most part, it was a very good comic.  Sam’s dad finally made it home by the end of the series, and it looks like they will both be heroes here,  I did think it was a little strange that Jesse is wearing a classic Nova helmet, and not a “Black Nova” helmet like Sam.  Before I read the tag line of “The Family Business,” I actually thought that was Richard Rider instead.

One thing I am kind of bummed out about is that they aren’t doing a NEW WARRIORS series.  I really enjoyed the last NEW WARRIORS series, and I was hoping to see that announced as one of Marvel’s new series. 

SCARLET WITCH #1 by James Robinson and Kevin Wada

Excitement Level: 2.5 out of 5 – That is a real gorgeous cover.  And I’ve liked a lot of Robinson’s work lately.  Normally, I would have no real interest in a SCARLET WITCH series, but this creative team definitely could win me over.  I will probably check out the first issue and see where things go from there.

Probably not the right place to whine about this, but Robinson’s NEW INVADERS series was one of my favorite Marvel books, and I am sorry to see it will not be coming back.  I was reminded quite a bit of JSA, which is another book that I really miss.  I would much rather Robinson doing more INVADERS than a SCARLET WITCH series.  I can’t imagine this book will have a very long lifespan…

SQUADRON SUPREME #1 by James Robinson and Leonard Kirk

Excitement Level: 3.5 out of 5 – The tagline suggests to me that this won’t quite be the SQUADRON SUPREME as we knew it, or even as JMS reimagined them a few years back for SUPREME POWER.  It looks like they will be survivors pieced together from the world’s destroyed during the incursions.  I suspect that makes the current SQUADRON SINISTER tie-in from SECRET WARS into a very important book for Marvel’s direction moving forward.

Robinson and Kirk should be a great creative team for this book.  I think I would have preferred it have a more classic SQUADRON SUPREME feel to it, but it still should be very good.

STAR-LORD #1 by Sam Humphries and Dave Johnson

Excitement Level: 2.5 out of 5 – I was actually looking forward to LEGENDARY STAR-LORD, but it never really felt like that book got its footing.  I do think it’s possible for Star-Lord could headline his own series, but Sam Humphries didn’t quite seem like the right fit for him.  Maybe this series will be far better, especially since it’s separated away from GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY entirely.  Definitely taking a wait-and-see approach on this one.

UNCANNY INHUMANS #1 by Charles Soule and Steve McNiven

Excitement Level: 4 out of 5 – OH COME ON!  This just isn’t fair.  I just said that I don’t really like the Inhumans.  But you have Charles Soule writing it…and Steve McNiven drawing it!  McNiven used to draw MERIDIAN, which is such a beautiful book I have original art from it on my walls.  

Even with my own disposition towards the Inhumans, I will almost definitely be checking it out.   I do have to give Marvel a lot of credit.  They have put together some incredible creative teams for All-New, All-Different Marvel…

VISION #1 by Tom King and Gabrial Waita

Excitement Level: 1 out of 5 –

Dear Marvel,

I know I am just a humble commentator and critic, and it is safe to assume you know your business far more than I ever will.  But, you can’t possibly tell me that you have any expectations that books like VISION or SCARLET WITCH will have any real audience waiting for them?   Yeah, I get that they were featured in AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, but we’ve seen time and time again, that has limited impact on comic sales.  And most comic readers have little to no interest on these characters either.

For my comic dollar, I would rather see more muscle put behind creating new characters than rehashing the same old dull characters over and over again that no one is clambering to see more of.   But hey, if you are in the business of making comics that just won’t sell, I have a great pitch for a series starring Forge that I want to run by you…

Sincerely Yours,
Mike Maillaro
Lifelong Marvel Fan