New year, new life is what they say, and this 2011 we are bringing new life to our The Weekly Crisis vs. Solicits monthly column. It's a brand new format that I hope you will all enjoy. This March, we are going to have a lot of Captain America books, some rather awe-inspiring collections, and a death that shall not come to pass. Hit the jump to see our thoughts on what March is going to bring.
Ryan L's Thoughts
The Best Things In March
And we're off to World War II. Don't tell me you think that's not going to rock. I won't hear of it. American Vampire is consistently rock solid and so far we've had Wild West, Jazz Era, Vegas, and now the second greatest war the world has ever seen. This should be very interesting. Makes me wonder how many other eras this title will fall upon.
Thunderbolts and Declan Shalvey Reunite
I loved those Shadowland tie-in issues of Thunderbolts and a large part of that was because of Shalvey's art. The man is going to be an absolute powerhouse and so to see him get more Marvel work is exactly what I want to see. The fact that he's coming in for a Man-Thing centred issue just makes it all the more awesome.
The Worst Things In March
I count 13 different issues based around Captain America, and that's just with him in the title. He's still an Avenger and guest star elsewhere. Now, I'm not saying that Cap fans need to buy every issue that concerns him and are thus being forced broke by Marvel, I know each fan can make their own selections. I know I will be getting anywhere between 2 and 5 of those titles, depending on other things, but I don't like this initiative for the Cap fans who must buy all of these. They love Cap, and intrigued by all of these titles, and so will be broke after March. This is great news for them but also the worst news they could get.
FF #1
A death. A new number 1. A cool text-friendly title. Man, it's everything I hate about comics and from one of the shining stars I really thought could start a new era of comics. What a shame. I don't want Fantastic Four to disappear, hundreds of issues just thrown away, and I don't want some lame jumping on point. I was happy enough to jump on to Hickman's run no matter what the number was. It didn't concern me and I was still brought in, not because of the issue number but because the work was of a high quality. I've been telling myself this title is on notice but now I see fate may have just given me the biggest sign, I've got a perfect jumping off point. Helps that this solicit comes with no price, the new ongoing will probably be $3.99 - or is that just pessimistic thinking on my behalf?
The Coolest Things In March You Need To Check Out
I was always keen to sample Nick Spencer and RB Silva on a Jimmy Olsen story. I just wan't willing to drop into Actions Comics to get it, and now I don't have to. Because DC cut their back up tale initiative to keep the price point at $2.99 line-wide the Olsen tale got cut right in half. Now the entire thing will be collected in one 80 page special. This is going to be something worth buying - and that's just going off the first installment I read for free through ComiXology.
Venom by Daniel Way Ultimate Collection
Why this isn't called an omnibus is completely lost on me. It's 18 issues of Way's Venom run and that's got to make a lot of fans happy. Putting stuff like this into print can only be a good idea because you know there's some people out there who want it. I loved Venom and own nearly all of his original minis but have never tried Way's take on the character. This would be an interesting way to get it. Either way, I am happy that Marvel are printing this purely because I can see it making some people very happy.
Matt's Thoughts
The Best Things in March
Marvel's cosmic adventures are back, and in a big way! I was wondering what had happened to the Groot & Rocket Raccoon mini series that they had announced a while back, and it seems it was repackaged as part of a larger book. Annihilators will be four issue miniseries, with each issue having 48 pages and at the price of $4.99. While the price may sound high at first, it really isn't when you realize that this thing is basically two full comics inside one set of covers. Besides, it's DnA! You know they are not going to disappoint.
The Flash Omnibus by Geoff Johns
I've heard quite a lot about Johns run on the Scarlet Speedster before he became DC's go-to guy for big events, and I'm quite interested to check it out. They are publishing a series of omnibuses, of which this one is the first, that will collect ALL of Johns' work in The Flash series. The only complaint? It seems quite pricey, as it costs 75 bucks and collects around 17 issues only. For that priced, I would have wanted more content, no matter how nice the package is.
The Worst Things in March
The solicitation and cover of Justice League: Generation Lost #21 flat out say that Blue Beetle is dead. Now, this COULD very well be a fakeout or it might be undone by the time the series ends, but it's not entirely reassuring. DC has a bad track record with minority characters, especially after the death of Ryan Choi, and it would be incredibly foolish to kill one of their most prominent Hispanic characters. Then again, the Blue Beetle TV show might be coming soon, so let's hope that they are not really killing him.
Steve Rogers Back as Captain America
We all knew it was coming, sooner or later, but it seems that Steve Rogers will finally return to don the mantle of Captain America. Issue 615.1 (part of Marvel's Point One initiative) flat out asks "who will be the new Captain America", and issue 616 is billed as "a brand new direction" after the Trial of Captain America. I understand the decision, what with the upcoming movie and all, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Brubaker pulled off the impossible stunt of replacing a character thought irreplaceable, and it would be a shame to return everything to how it was before. Besides, if there's a bunch of Batmen running around, surely there can be two Caps, right?
The Coolest Things in March that You Need To Check Out
This one will be really interesting to watch out for. The brand new CrossGen titles that Marvel will be launching in March are so different from their regular output, that I just flat out don't know how they will be received. Their appeal, I think, is more varied and inviting to new and casual readers, and I really hope it's successful in captivating old readers as well. And with all that I have heard of the CrossGen universe, I'm looking forward to finding out what it's all about.
The Sky: The Art of Final Fantasy
No one blames you if you didn't see this one, but Dark Horse is printing a massive set of five books with a ton of concept art, sketches, and who knows what else from the first ten Final Fantasy games by Yoshitaka Amano. And when I say massive, I mean it: it's 800 pages, with a page size of 10 3/4" x 11 3/4" x 3 1/4". Sure, it also costs 130 bucks, which isn't the price of an impulse buy. However, it sounds like a really good gift (to others or to yourself) to keep in mind for the fan of the Final Fantasy video games.
Conclusion
So that's what looks good and bad for March for us. What about you? What are you most and least looking forward to? What's something that might fly under people's radar? Let us know in the comment sections below.
Follow each of us on Twitter:
10 comments:
Even though Daniel Way's Venom was terrible stuff, I do like the fact that it's being reprinted, if only for the nostalgia value of it.
Also, 800 pages of Yoshitaka Amano's art??? HECK, YEAH, I WANT IT!
From the way Geoff Johns speaks of Blue Beetle, I doubt he'll kill him off. And I really want that Art of Final Fantasy. Yoshitaka Amano's art is gorgeous, but I'll have to wait until it's released to see if I can afford it, rather than pre-order it at my LCS, as I usually do.
Love the new format!
Thanks for pointing out Amano's book; I didn't see it when Dark Horse released their solicits and am now really, really excited about it.
I'm hoping that Jamie's death is a fake out since the death of all the minorities is already way past ridiculous. I'm also disappointed that Steve Rogers will be taking back the Shield since Brubaker's run had been spent really building up Bucky as a character and had him as the main character rather than Steve.
Looking forward to the final issue of Streets of Gotham; the title as a whole has been really uneven because of Dini's involvement requiring near-constant fill-ins and abridged installments favoring the back-ups. Hopefully his final issue will deliver as strongly as the debut issue did. And hopefully with less on his plate it'll mean that his work on Zatanna won't require fill-ins
Re: Daniel Way's "Venom"
Prepare for disappointment, I'm afraid.
Maybe they're killing Jamie Reyes and bringing back Ted Kord.
Two comics worth of pages for $5? Given the price of most comics today, I'd call that a bargain even if it wasn't a DnA written Marvel Cosmic extravaganza with half the pages dedicated to Rocket Raccoon and Groot. :-D
After the last issue of Booster Gold, I'd prefer that Ted Lord remains dead. It was an unexpectedly powerful issue that will resonate to those touched by the loss or death of a loved one. If you still think of Booster as a two-dimensional joke, PLEASE buy Booster Gold #39. As long as Giffen and DeMatteis write this book, I'll be there for it all.
Well, I'm glad I mentioned the Final Fantasy book, haha.
It's so cool that crossgen is coming back and I hope it is successful. Think there's any chance Paul Pelletier would hop over from hulk and finish Negation War?
@Discount: From what I've read in interviews and such, I don't think that's going to happen. The editors (can't remember who it was, but it was an interview on CBR) ruled out continuing old franchises, because they saw this as a brand new universe, using the familiar characters and concepts.
Post a Comment
Thanks for checking out the Weekly Crisis - Comic Book Review Blog. Comments are always appreciated. You can sign in and comment with any Google, Wordpress, Live Journal, AIM, OpenID or TypePad account.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.