All-New, All-Different Marvel... The post Secret Wars Universe...

It has been quite a while since I have written a post on here. To long in my opinion but life has been busy among other things, but this news had me immediately wanting to post something. As you may have already noticed, through the majority of my previous posts, it is safe to say that I am a Marvel fan. So with the recent teasers for the post Secret Wars Marvel Universe there is suddenly a lot to talk about and a lot to speculate. As any avid comic fan would know in the past few weeks Marvel released two new teaser images featuring characters that will obviously have some role in the the All-New, All-Different Marvel Universe that will come to fruition in the Fall this year, probably around September/ October time. It has been confirmed that all titles will be re-starting from #1, 8 months after the events of Secret Wars, it has also been made abundantly clear that this is not a Re-Boot but just a Refresh of the Marvel Universe all previous character continuity is still intact.

We have already had our first little look at the future of the Marvel Universe in Free Comic Book Day's All-New, All-Different Avengers where we were shown a team of Iron Man, Captain America (FalCap), Vision, Thor (Avengers NOW! Thor), Ms Marvel (Kamala Khan), Miles Morales and Nova (Sam Alexander). This was out first glimpse at the future Avengers team. Several of these characters featured in the first All New, All Different Marvel Teaser below, so lets take a look;

Okay, so in this teaser image starting from left to right we have, Agent Coulson, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Woman, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Captain America (FalCap), Steve Rogers, Iron Man, Ant-Man, Thor, Vision, Ms Marvel, Mile Morales and Red Wolf. What does this all mean? Well 5 of the cast in this image are already confirmed to be within the Avengers team post Secret Wars. Many of these characters do not come as a surprise other than Red Wolf who I must admit I do not know much about. Many of the characters in the above image are integral to Marvel's current cinematic and television Universe. Ant-Man having his feature film released this July and Black Panther making his first appearance in next years Civil War alongside a possible cameo appearance of the new Marvel Cinematic Spider-Man.

Another thing to take from this image is the 4 Spider-Folk, Spider-Gwen, Spider-Woman, Spider-Man and Mile Morales. That's a lot of Spider-Folk for one Universe, isn't it? Well Spider-Gwen has been incredibly successful since her first appearance during Spider-Verse, the newly designed Spider-Woman post Spider-Verse has been a very rewarding book, I have hear I must admit I haven't been reading it. Spider-Man, (Amazing), will always be a main stay in the Marvel Universe however there are those talking about this not actually being Peter Parker Spider-Man, but then again many didn't think that it would be Tony Stark in the Iron Man suit which we found out this weekend it would be, so I suppose we will just have to wait and see. Finally we have Miles Morales who in all honesty has been the only really success of the Ultimate Universe in recent years, who looks as though he will be making the jump to the new Marvel Universe, whether it will still be called 616 I have no idea.

Alongside this teaser Axel Alonso, Marvel Editor in Chief, confirmed that there will be a new Hulk and new Wolverine in the new Marvel Universe. Hulk has been teased to have ramifications at the same level of when they announced the new Thor from Jason Aaron and Russell Dauterman.

If this teaser peaked you interest then the second will have sent your mind into over-drive, lets take a look;

Again starting from left to right we have; Doctor Spectrum (From Hickman's recent run on Avengers), Citizen V (Formerly the moniker held by the leader of the Thunderbolts), Rocket Raccoon, The Thing, Karnak (Yep street level returned from the dead Karnak), Hyperion, Inferno, Iron Man, Medusa, Daredevil, Wolverine (X-23), Star Lord, Doctor Strange and Old Man Logan.

What can we take from this image. Well I will start with the obvious, judging by Thing's new get up he will be joining the Guardians of the Galaxy post Secret Wars. The new Wolverine will be none other than X-23, alongside Old Man Logan, whether the two will have a relationship of sorts is yet to be seen. Doctor Strange is looking both younger and now wielding an axe, with his feature film being released next year it was inevitable he would become a character Marvel would be looking to push promotionally. Daredevil has got a new costume, many saying reminiscent to his Shadowland costume, personally I think this will be taking Daredevil in a new direction and also tying in closer to the nitty, gritty street level feeling of the Daredevil TV Series. So what have I missed, well there are three Inhumans in the image, Medusa, Inferno (A New Inhuman since Black Bolt released the Terrigen Mists, and Karnak yes previously deceased Karnak who has a new look, Iron Fist like in appearance. Then there are two characters from Jonathan Hickman's Avengers run still present in the image, Doctor Spectrum and Hyperion, what they will involved in in the post Secret Wars Universe is beyond my own speculation as I am not really familiar with the characters.Finally there is Citizen V, who after doing some research of my own, turns out to have been the persona that Baron Zemo took while leader of the original Thunderbolts so what does this mean for the Thunderbolts moving forward. Overall this image certainly holds more questions and excitement than the first.

The good news is, many questions will be answered come July 1st this year when Marvel will be releasing a free magazine in comic stores featuring the new titles and creative teams coming this October! If you had been keeping an eye on the news out of Special NYC the other week you will know that one title and creative team has been announced, and it is a star studded team. Invincible Iron Man will be brought to you by Brian Michael Bendis, David Marquez and Justin Ponsor, the fantastic team from the recent Miles Morales comic. Bendis is one of my favourite writers, I am two issues away from having a complete Bendis Avengers run along with Marquez who has long been one of my favourite artists since his Fanastic Four Season One OGN with Marvel. This looks to be the flagship title for post Secret Wars Universe. What else do you hope will be announced and who are your dream teams for your favourite characters? The post Secret Wars Universe sure seems to be shaping up to be very exciting...

Secret Wars heralds the end of the Marvel 616 Universe as we know it...

So it may have made more sense to post this before the All-New, All-Different Avengers post but I am still dealing with a bit of a drafts backlog. Anyway in the middle of last week Marvel's David Gabriel, their SVP of Sales and Marketing, announced 33 Marvel titles that will be coming to an end during Secret Wars. Now that is a lot of titles and considering they do not want this to be seen as a re-vamp creates more questions than it does answers. The full list of titles that see themselves coming to an end during Secret Wars can be found below.

Now looking at the below titles several of these had already been coming to a conclusion and are no surprises. The question I have is will some of the below titles Secret Wars replacements, for example "Guardians of Nowhere", "Thors", "A-Force", be there on-going replacements for the foreseeable future or will we see whoever survives Secret Wars and Battleworld getting their own titles come its conclusion, so lets say September, because right now Bleeding Cool's previous post highlighting "All-New Marvel" on the Diamond Distributors Retailer Calendar. We're already being teased of a possible Avengers line up that will be around post Secret Wars in the Free Comic Book Day issue.

Which of the below titles are you sad to see end and which do you think will most certainly be back come the conclusion of the Secret Wars event and whatever Marvel Universe is left in its place? For more check out the link below;

http://comicbook.com/2015/03/18/marvels-david-gabriel-clarifies-secret-wars-plans-hints-at-what-/

All-New Captain America
All-New Ghost Rider
All-New X-Men
Amazing Spider-Man
Amazing X-Men
Angela: Asgard’s 
AssassinAvengers
Avengers World
Captain Marvel
Cyclops
Deadpool
Elektra
Fantastic Four
Guardians 3000
Guardians of the Galaxy
Hulk
Inhuman
Iron Fist: The Living Weapon
Legendary Star-Lord
Miles Morales: Ultimate Spider-Man
New Avengers
Nightcrawler
Nova
Rocket Raccoon
Secret Avengers
Spider-Man & The X-Men
Spider-Man 2099
Storm
Superior Iron Man
Thor
Uncanny X-Men
Wolverines
X-Men

The All-New, All-Different Avengers... Let the teasers begin...

Today Marvel has released an image for there Free Comic Book Day offering, "All-New, All-Different Avengers, revealing two members of this new Avengers team. Ms. Marvel and current Thor, so there are two things to take out of this image. This is reportedly a peak at what is to come in the post Secret Wars Marvel Universe. If this is true then we have confirmation that both Ms. Marvel, Kamala Khan, and Thor will survive whatever happens and will be heading to become on of the World's Greatest Heroes. Now for the Rest of the images in the cover that have been blacked out into Silhouettes here's my best guess as to who they may be. Front and centre, this looks like a Spider-Man pose, but I strongly believe this will be Miles Morales, I also really hope it is. To finish the front row, bottom right I imagine will be Nova, Sam Alexander. Moving to the middle row and beginning from the left, taking into consideration current story lines going on running into Secret Wars I will say the armour clad silhouette may be Rescue, Pepper Potts. The middle figure looks clearly to be Sam wilson a.k.a Captain America. Finally the far right, this one has me a little stumped and after some time thinking about this I have come to the conclusion that this must be Doctor Strange, his profile needs to be raised with the film in coming, what better way to do this than put him into the new Avengers team. Whether I am right or wrong with any of these, I really am looking forward to the team being released through the week or weeks.

My picks of the solicits for May 2015...

Right, well here are my picks from the May solicits, this has been sitting in draft form for sometime but here they are...

Marvel: A-Force

When I first started collecting comics it was the post Civil War Mighty Avengers and Avengers Initiative that I began reading. Since then I always like to pick up new takes on the Avengers books. Dark Avengers being one of my favourites. The creative team and idea behind this series is exciting. But no disrespect meant towards Jorge Molina who I don't doubt will do a great job, looking at the variant cover by Russell Dauterman I wish he was on interiors. This has the set up to be a great series and in G. Willow Wilson and Marguerite Bennett I believe it is in safe hands. 

A-FORCE #1
G. WILLOW WILSON & MARGUERITE BENNETT (w) • JORGE MOLINA (a)
Cover by JIM CHEUNG
VARIANT COVER BY RUSSELL DAUTERMAN
VARIANT COVER BY STEPHAN HANS
• Marvel’s Mightiest Women finally get their own explosive series!
• In a secluded corner of the Battleworld, an island nation is fiercely protected by a team of Avengers the likes of which has only ever been glimpsed before…
• Fighting to protect the small sliver of their world that’s left, the Amazing A-FORCE stands shoulder-to-shoulder, ready to take on the horde!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Marvel: Old Man Logan

I took advantage of a Comixology sale to get the original issues containing the brilliant Old Man Logan by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. Old Man Logan is a killer character and I am excited to see him getting a series during Secret Wars, will this be our Wolverine moving forward post Secret Wars? I wouldn't be disappointed if it was. Again another brillitant creative team on this one and I can not wait to see how Sorrentino and Bendis collaborate to continue this characters story.

OLD MAN LOGAN #1
BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS (w) • ANDREA SORRENTINO (a/C)
VARIANT COVER by STEVE McNIVEN
VARIANT COVER BY ANDREA SORRENTINO
YOUNG VARIANT BY SKOTTIE YOUNG
BLANK VARIANT COVER
• Enter the Wastelands…a realm where all heroes have been murdered by their arch-enemies, villains who now rule over the land with an iron fist. In the midst of this dystopian chaos, one man may make a difference…a reluctant warrior who was once the greatest mutant of all…a man known as OLD MAN LOGAN.
40 PGS./Rated T …$4.99

Dark Horse: High Crimes

High Crimes is the critically acclaimed digital series from Monkeybrain comics finally heading to print in this collection from Dark Horse. I'll be looking to grab this one, I really enjoy when these successful digital formats head to print. 

High Crimes HC
Christopher Sebela (W) and Ibrahim Moustafa (A/Cover)
On sale July 8
FC, 184 pages
$19.99
HC, 7″ x 10″
Disgraced Olympic snowboarder Zan Jensen runs a sideline business as a high-altitude grave robber. When a body is found at the summit of Everest with a treasure of state secrets under its skin, Zan finds herself in the crosshairs of a government hit squad. As she races to the roof of the world, Zan will navigate bullets and avalanches to find salvation in the deadliest place on Earth.
Collecting the critically acclaimed Monkeybrain digital comic the A.V. Club calls “a high concept executed with precision, delivering real-world intrigue.” 
“Instead of just yelling at people to read High Crimes, now I can throw it at them at the same time.”—Matt Fraction (Sex Criminals)


Boom!: Adventure Time #40

I am a big fan of the TV programme and I collect the Mathematical Editions of the collections. Adventure Time #40 sees the previously teased story created by Matt Fraction and his son Henry Leo. This is the main reason this is in my pick, I look forward to seeing what Matt Fraction and his son have created.

ADVENTURE TIME #40
Retail Price: $3.99 
Author: Christopher Hastings, Henry Leo & Matt Fraction
Artist: Zachary Sterling
Cover Artists:
Main Cover: Paul Pope
Subscription Variant Cover: Lauren Dawson
Variant Cover: Simon Leclerc
It’s a special interactive, one-shot issue! Magic Man plans to use the reader to help beat Finn and Jake, but can our heroes turn the tables? Features a special short written by debut writer Henry Leo and Matt Fraction (Hawkeye)!

Image: Injection #1

There are no reasons this shouldn't be in my pick and 3 easy reason why it should. Warren Ellis, Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire. I have been waiting for this since its announcement from the incredible creative team previously on Moon Knight, May seems to far away. 

INJECTION #1
STORY: WARREN ELLIS
ART / COVERS: DECLAN SHALVEY & JORDIE BELLAIRE
MAY 13 / 24 PAGES / FC / M / $2.99 
Once upon a time, there were five crazy people, and they poisoned the 21st Century. Now they have to deal with the corrosion to try and save us all from a world becoming too weird to support human life.
INJECTION is the new ongoing series created by the acclaimed creative team of Moon Knight. It is science fiction, tales of horror, strange crime fiction, techno-thriller, and ghost story all at the same time. A serialized sequence of graphic novels about how loud and strange the world is getting, about the wild future and the haunted past all crashing into the present day at once, and about five eccentric geniuses dealing with the paranormal and numinous as well as the growing weight of what they did to the planet with the Injection.

Anything DC Can Do Marvel Can Do Better... Or Can They?... Marvel announce A-Force...

So DC won the day in regards to most exciting announcement on Friday, but to be fair they did announce a whole host of new titles by exciting creative teams.

Anyway back to the post at hand, Marvel continue to make announcements regarding the upcoming Secret Wars and were to announce a new 'forceful' title that will be released with this event. The word 'forceful' did have me wondering if this would be Star Wars related, but to my relief it did not. As much as I love both Marvel and Star Wars it would be far two soon for these two to be linking Universes.

It was supposedly to be announced on 'The View', as they did with the announcement of the Female Thor. Although as I understand the announcement was pulled from that programme, to many viewers frustration. USA today seemed to get the big scoop regarding the announcement of the new Avengers team A-Force which will take form during Secret Wars and will also contain an exclusively female cast. To be written by G. Willow-Wilson (mastermind behind Kamala Kham Ms Marvel) and Marguerite Bennett an exciting up and coming writer and previous student of Scott Snyder, the series will be illustrated by Jorge Molina, X-Men artist who will also have a fill in issue of Thor coming out this Wednesday.

The main team will comprise of She-Hulk, Dazzler, Medusa, Nico Minuro (Recently seen in Avengers Arena) and a new universal and cosmically powered hero Sigularity. The gorgeous, as always, cover art by Jim Cheung features these lead characters at the forefront of the image but also contains many of the other well known female characters through out the Marvel Universe including Storm, Scarlet Witch, Jean Grey (Phoenix) Spider-Woman, Captain MArvel, Wasp, Elektra, Rescue (Pepper Potts), Spider-Gwen (I know right she's already getting such fan fare and the issue isn't out yet), Black Widow, Pixie, Jubilee, Firestar, Hellcat and a few others who I can't recognise or to be honest don't even know. I am surprised that G. Willow Wilson's own character Kamala Khan, Ms Marvel, isn't featured on the cover. It has been announced that the cast is not limited to the announced characters or characters featured on the cover. Fan favourite artist Jamie McKelvie is already spearheading Ms America being involved in the title and co writer Marguerite Bennett didn't say no to the premise. I look forward to seeing which other female characters from within the Marvel Universe will make an appearance in the series.

I am, for one, excited about this announcement. I really enjoy when Marvel take risks with there flagship titles and although not called 'Avengers' this title does contain the Avengers logo at the beginning and this will be the Avengers team for the events of Secret Wars. Marvel have been taking more and more risks recently and, although I am certain many will not be happy about this announcement, these risks are really paying off.

In recent times one of my favourite Avengers titles was post Secret Invasion when the title became Dark Avengers and I hope that this will have the same impact for me.

The only real problem with the announcement of this title and the many others on Friday is that after working so hard, and being ruthless, to reduce my comic list I now have a lot to think about how many I can increase it by. However this isn't a terrible position to be in. This is looking to be a very exciting year for comics.

For more on the announcement and an interview with the writers behind this title coming in May click the link below.

Click me for more more about A-Force

Marvel Comics: Secret Wars... Universes Collide... Universes Combine... This is not a Re-Boot!!... This is the future of the Marvel Universe...

This has been typed up and ready to post for quite some time so sorry if some of the info seems a little out dated... I hope to get more Secret Wars info up soon.

So last week we received more info on the Marvel's upcoming Secret Wars. The conclusion to Jonathan Hickman's run as Avengers lead writer and the epic conclusion to 'Time Runs Out' that has been ongoing since last September in his issues of Avengers and New Avengers. 

The announcement to end all announcements was the long predicted be unsurprising collision of the Marvel 616 Universe and the Ultimate Universe. The most important character for me to survive this collision is Miles Morales who has become a firm fan favourite since his creation by Brian Michael Bendis. 

Not a lot more was given away during the announcement. We will begin to learn more over the coming weeks as we presumably head towards May's solicitations which see the first two issues of Secret Wars reach comic book stores. 

This still seems a lot like a "re-boot" of sorts to me, but I suppose the argument is nothing is ending and re-starting is all just moulding together in to one hopefully stream-lined, rewarding Universe. 

Since the announcement three separate Secret Wars banners have been revealed, 'Last Days', 'Battleworlds' and 'Warzones'. These banners will accompany titles linking into the event, to get a better idea of what each one means check out the official press releases below. 

There will be plenty more to be revealed over he coming days and I will be keeping my eye out for any more news on this. Although I'm slightly apprehensive of what the final outcome of this event will be in still quietly excited for what the future will hold.

Oh and also one last thing, Secret Wars #0 will be released on Free Comic Book Day, May 2nd, this will also feature the Attack on Titan Marvel Crossover so that's something to look forward to. The cover for this is at the far far bottom of the post.

Official Press Release

The skies go dark and the world begins to fracture. Secret Wars is coming, and with it the destruction of the Marvel Universe as we know it. Today, Marvel is proud to announce LAST DAYS, the first of three different types of series taking place during the upcoming, highly anticipated Secret Wars!

“What would you do if you learned today was your last day on Earth?” says Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso. “That’s the question your favorite Marvel heroes are going to ask themselves in their LAST DAYS story lines as they brace for Secret Wars and the end of the Marvel Universe.”

Battleworld is set to transform the Marvel Universe as you know it. But before Secret Wars can begin, this chapter must come to a close. What will our heroes do with their final hours? What secrets will be unearthed? Who will they want to spend their LAST DAYS with?

“LAST DAYS is the first of three new brandings for series unique to Secret Wars,” says Marvel SVP Sales & Marketing David Gabriel. “Each branding will bear its own unique trade dress and logo treatment, clearly defining its relationship to the main Secret Wars story. This will make it easier for fans to experience the full scope of Secret Wars. Don’t dare miss these epic tales as our heroes face their impending obliteration!”

Before Secret Wars can begin, the Marvel Universe must end. And it all starts this May as the entire planet faces their LAST DAYS!

Official Press Release

New York, NY—January 22, 2015— The Marvel Universe has been destroyed! One by one, each and every universe across the cosmos has been eliminated. All that exists is a new, patchwork planet made up of the remains of decimated universes. Today, Marvel is proud to announce BATTLEWORLD, which joins LAST DAYS as two of the three unique umbrella brands of titles launching during Secret Wars!

“If you want the full story of what’s happening across the surface of this new planet, BATTLEWORLD branded titles are for you,” says Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso. “Who polices Battleworld? How do the various domains interact? What happens when those domains go to war? What strange, never-before-seen creatures inhabit this world? What familiar faces will make appearances? Fans who want to fully understand how each sector interacts with the others can’t miss out on these books!”

Titles carrying the BATTLEWORLD banner will focus on the interworking and interaction of all the domains now fused together throughout the one and only remaining planet! The Secret Wars are waged as the last remaining fragments of dead universes fight for survival. Who rules these domains? Who comes out on top? Who lives? Who dies?

“The inner machinations of Secret Wars happen here,” says Marvel SVP Sales & Marketing David Gabriel. “BATTLEWORLD branded titles will be clearly marked through the Marvel Previews solicits as well as with well distinguished cover trade dress, this way both retailers and fans will know what they’re getting. Think of these as the new core monthly titles. “

What secrets are about to be revealed? Find out this may as Secret Wars enters BATTLEWORLD!

Official Press Release

The future begins here! When everything ends, there is only Secret Wars. Today, Marvel is proud to announce WARZONES!, the final umbrella of titles launching during Secret Wars! WARZONES! joins LAST DAYS and BATTLEWORLD as the three different categories of titles launching throughout Secret Wars, each with their own unique type of story to tell!

“If you want a glimpse of what the future holds, you’ll find it in the WARZONES titles,” says Marvel Editor-in-Chief Axel Alonso. “Our creators let their imaginations run wild as they lay down the foundations for the future. Whether we’re revisiting the most popular events from Marvel’s past or telling completely new stories, you won’t believe what we’ve got in store for you.”

All that remains in the cosmos is Battleworld, the strange, patchwork realm playing host to countless realities, all existing side-by-side, fused into a single planet! Titles carrying the WARZONES! banner tell stories of the individual dominions of Battleworld. What happens within their borders? What heroes guard their skies? What villains conspire within? How does over 75 years of Marvel’s epic history play out now that Battleworld is all there is?

“To be clear, WARZONES! titles are NOT fill-ins. These are the event caliber books, magnified to the Nth degree,” says Marvel SVP Sales & Marketing David Gabriel. “Secret Wars has afforded us a completely unique opportunity to tell huge, epic, event-sized stories within the framework of this new, patchwork planet – events within events. These titles will lay the building blocks and groundwork for what’s next, if that gives any indication of how important they are!”

While the Secret Wars rage on, the foundation of a new Marvel Universe take shape within the war-torn domains across Battleworld. The future of Marvel begins in the WARZONES!