Marvel Comics is up to its old tricks and mixing up the Marvel side of comic shop shelves everywhere as All-New Marvel NOW! approaches. Outright Geekery follows the ever-changing lineup of comics hitting the shelves from Marvel, in Part 2 of our delve into All-New Marvel NOW! Check out part 1 here.
The return of some great Marvel B-List heroes mark this list, and something completely different.
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All-New Ghost Rider
Writer: Felipe Smith
Artist: Tradd Moore
Summary
This book is all about getting The Rider back to his roots of vengefully kicking ass and speeding around on a hot (literally!) hot rod automobile? Where the hell’s the bike? There’s also a new face behind the, umm, flaming skull, giving an honest-to-goodness never-before-seen Ghostrider!
Gaumer: Ghostrider? Again?! Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of pictures of flaming skulls, and Tradd Moore;’s are going to look awesome, but they’re taking away the bike and giving him a car. Different is always better.
I’d wait on this one. It’s got some potential, but if you must see Ghostrider buy Thunderbolts. He’s joining that team soon.
Jules:Â I wanna say I’m excited for this book, but I just can’t. I was a big Rider fan as a kid, the idea of him in a car, just not for me. Ghost Rider is one of those characters that really needs the right team on him. Hopefully this is that team.
I’m honestly gonna wait for the trade, and wait to hear some good things about this one, that is if anyone has anything to say. Sorry.
Taylor:Â This gets a pass from me. Ghost Rider is a character that I’ve never really identified with. If I did, though, I’d be pretty flabbergasted that they’d get rid of the bike. I always viewed the chopper to be as much a part of the character as the skull and the hellfire.
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Avengers Undercover
Writer: Dennis Hopeless
Artist: Kev Walker
Summary
Streaming out of the dark horse hit Avengers Arena, Undercover looks to head in that same successful direction. The book promises the same Avengers Arena action without the rules.
Gaumer: I wasn’t sold on Avengers Arena when it first dropped, but after I was talked into buying a copy of the first trade by Julestrue I found out what all the noise surrounding that title was about; and it was good! If this is anything like Arena, and it’s supposed to be a direct sequel to that run, the fans of that title will simply love this.
I’ll be skipping this. I just don’t have room for it in my box and there are just other books I’m more interested in. That’s not taking anything away from the book at all, and these trades will definitely be on my buy list.
Jules: I loved, downright loved Avengers Arena. Dennis Hopeless is the man; I had serious doubts he was real for a bit. His Cable and X-Force and Avengers Arena are just fun reads. Which in an age where books either take themselves too seriously or not seriously enough, is a nice breath of fresh air.
I’m gonna try it out. I said that with his other two books and was def pleasantly surprised. I hope this title turns out to be just as good as the others. I already know I’m a fan of Kev Walker’s art, considering I just read the last issue of Avengers Arena with his sweet art inside.
Taylor: Well, if this is the spin-off to Avengers Arena, I’m sort of disqualified from picking this one up, seeing as I never got into AA. I can, however, give a seal of approval to Kev Walker’s artwork, which I fondly remember from his work on Thunderbolts with Jeff Parker.
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Captain Marvel
Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Artist: David Lopez
Summary
The series that just cannot be stopped continues to roll into an all new number 2. This new start promises even greater thrills and adventures for Carol Danvers.
Gaumer: I have to say I feel ashamed to have missed out on all of the awesome things going on in the Captain Marvel title. Kelly Sue DeConnick just gets this character and knows how to make her cool and appealing to a mass audience. It’s not just about girl-power, but it’s there in all it’s goodness. I won’t be missing out again.
I’m getting this title and will be hanging with it for at least a few issues. I’ve heard so much about the previous Captain Marvel book that I don’t think the rest of the OG crew will let me skip it. And I don’t think I want to.
Jules:Â I will not miss this book, I missed out on the first few issues of the last run and started reading it digitally, and regret it. Kelly Sue is doing great things with one of my favorite Avengers of all time. I’m seriously a big Carol Danvers fan, not since Bendis’ Mighty Avengers do I feel like the right writer is behind Carol.
This is a for sure buy! I’m a huge fan of not only Kelly Sue but a fan of David Lopez’s art so I know its gonna be a sweet tango of story and art.
Taylor: Three for three on this one. Kelly Sue DeConnick is an emerging superstar in the comics industry, and I want to try to get in on the ground floor of one of her books this time around. Especially when she’s working on a character that she understands very well, and who seems to be poised to make the jump to the A-List character tier. Throw in David Lopez, who has been doing strong work on books such as Mystic, and you’ve got a winning package.
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Inhuman
Writer: Matt Fraction
Artist: Joe Maduiera
Summary
Spinning out of the event of Infinity, Inhuman promises to make sense of the multitudes of newly empowered Inhumans running rampant around the planet. Layered story-telling and brand new characters will abound throughout a story with a ton of paving behind it.
Gaumer: I’m not so sure I’m sold on the whole Inhumans thing stemming out of the events of Infinity. I see one of two things happening: we get another set of mutants, something we don’t need; or we get an army with Blackbolt as its leader, something that only leads to another event. It just doesn’t feel sticky.
I’ll buy issue one just to see what’s going on, but if it doesn’t grab me by the shorties from the get-go it’s not going to make my pull-list. I’m sure I can just wait until the next event and get a good summary at some point.
Jules:Â I’ve always been a big Inhumans fan. Being a long time fan of Marvel’s First Family( Fantastic Four; I did that for you who was unsure) I’ve always been fascinated with them. There’s such a very powerful yet mysterious family dynamic about them. With Matt Fraction behind this title I feel like I can get into it. He’s really good and writing interpersonal relationships and this is def one of those books you can get away with a lot of it, especially all of the new inhumans.
Do I agree the inhumans popping up like mutants is a bit much? Yes. There’s already new mutants popping up everyday since the events of AvsX. So maybe all the sudden regular humans become the major minority? Maybe a war? Mutants, Inhumans, Humans. Too Soon, but I’m gonna give it a shot and see what happens.
Taylor: I’m going to have to skip out on this one. A couple of years ago, I got burnt out on Matt Fraction when I jumped off of his Invincible Iron Man and Mighty Thor books roughly around the same time Fear Itself wrapped up. I’ve been avoiding him since then, and nothing about this Inhumanity book is making me want to change that stance.
Though I will say that I do have a sort of academic interest in how they’re going to be differentiating the new Inhumans from earth’s mutant population. Fortunately, it seems that my cohorts have a similar interest. Looks like I’ll be asking around the comic shop, then.
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Punisher
Writer: Nathan Edmondson
Artist: Mitch Gerads
Summary
Frank Castle take his unique style of justice to the mean streets of L.A. as The Punisher moves to the West Coast. The tide turns on Frank as he becomes the unlikely target of an organized gang of street thugs.
Gaumer: I always say that Punisher would be better if they did something different with him. It’s why I thought Franken-Castle was such a fun arc of good old Frank. This, however, doesn’t seem different at all. Sure, he’s moved to the West Coast, but it doesn’t seem very different. Not that that’s bad, though, I just prefer my Punisher a bit more gorey, and I won’t be finding that here.
I’m skipping this. I’ve seen it before, and I don’t like it. My favorite Punisher is too brutal for the 616, unfortunately.
Jules:Â Nope. Never been a big Punisher fan, never thought he could just carry his own book.
Not gonna give this a try, let me know if you do.
Taylor:Â I’m out, too. The Punisher is a character that can work very well in capable hands that have plenty of free rein, but just as often gets undercut by efforts to make him more mainstream friendly. Mind you, I’m not trying to say that his new team doesn’t have it in them, just that you never know what you’re going to get, so it’s better to wait things out.
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That’s it for NOW! for now, but check back later this week for more of what’s coming from Marvel. What will you be adding to your pull-list? Comment below!
Script: Mike Baron
Outright Geekery 