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When Marvel takes news to big outlets like The Wall Street Journal, they usually have something sizable to announce, a new artist for the main Avengers title after Secret Wars, shipping schedule, an Alex Ross cover debut, and roster confirmation are little details that add up to news.

The Free Comic Book Day Avengers issue already revealed the roster of the team after the Secret Wars eight months later event. Marvel even gave us what looks like a (fairly) stable creative team in Mark Waid and Mahmud Asrar. But today, they revealed that artist Adam Kubert will be switching storylines with Asrar. Also, they shared this Alex Ross cover: which is kind of insane. In addition, this comic book will be shipping more than an issue every month. The Avengers will first come together to fight someone that Marvel Studios film watchers and Nova fans will be familiar with: Warbringer, a Chitauri alien warlord. This new set of Avengers will be low on money, (I guess the whole Superior Iron Man thing burned some bridges?)

“They’re poor, and they have to manage their assets,” said Marvel Executive Editor and SVP of Publishing Tom Brevoort. “Another new wrinkle: Half the team goes to school. They’ve got hours of operation, and if they get stuck in Zimbabwe, somebody’s going to have to write the absentee slips.”

Marvel isn’t looking that bad when comparing their Avengers to DC’s Justice League strictly in terms of diversity. The Vision is a robot. The team has not one, but two women. It’s great to see three younger kids joining the Avengers ranks as well — all three are powerful and with the support of Vision and Tony Stark as Iron Man, they have nothing to worry about. How long with the new Thor be around? Her character is very ill and may have precious little time left to serve as an Avenger. Hopefully Waid will naturally integrate Sam Wilson into the Captain America mantle in a way that doesn’t seem forced, AXIS did some damage to his new role in the Marvel Universe. As ComicsAlliance pointed out as well, this roster is slim, a far cry to the massive Jonathan Hickman-penned multi-character Avengers world concept. As interesting as that story was, it’s time to take the franchise in a new direction, and Marvel seems to be doing just that with the new effort.

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I know you were wondering to yourself, “When is Alex Ross going to do a variant cover for Marvel’s reprints of MIRACLEMAN?” I KNOW you were so don’t try to hide it.

The answer is: May! With issue #5 of the reprint series, Alex Ross has given MM a fantastic dragon suit that would not look out of place even in a snowboarding or skiing tourney.

“There are few comics in the history of the medium that reach the heights of Miracleman,” says Marvel SVP of Sales & Marketing David Gabriel in a statement. “Thankfully there are few artists in the business that as renowned as Alex Ross and we’re thrilled to have him contribute such a stunningly beautiful cover.”
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               
MIRACLEMAN #5 ALEX ROSS VARIANT (MAR140679)           
Written by THE ORIGINAL WRITER
Art by ALAN DAVIS & JOHN RIDGWAY
Additional Variant Covers by
JIM CHEUNG & HUMBERTO RAMOS Variants Also Available!
FOC – 04/14/14 On-Sale – 05/07/14

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It’s been a while since we heard from Legendary Comics, but they made a reappearance at WonderCon as Guillermo del Toro unveiled the Alex Ross cover for PACIFIC RIM: TALES FROM YEAR ZERO, a graphic novel prequel to the kaiju vs mecha movie. The GN is by screenwriter Travis Beacham with art by Sean Chen, Yvel Guichet, and Pericles Junior with inks by Steve Bird and Mark McKenna. Let it be said that Alex Ross has captured the spirit of the clash quite well.

Speaking of Legendary, as anyone digging around Previews of late may have noticed, they are being distributed by Marvel Comics. Future projects include a mini-series by Grant Morrison and a collection of THE TOWER CHRONICLES which will be distributed by Marvel.

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DC have announced that Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson’s Astro City will be returning in June! Oh, and look who’s doing the covers:

This will be an ongoing series from the creative team, starting with a shiny new issue #1. The press release notes that returning characters such as Samaritan and Honor Guard will be joined by new characters – a new character called ‘Broken Man’ appears to be the centre for the new story. This marks Busiek’s long-awaited return to comics after a too-long hiatus. And actually, let’s just listen to what he has to say, as part of the announcement interview with MTV Geek:

It’ll be an ongoing monthly, open-ended series. Since there isn’t a single ongoing lead character or team, it’s not really a case of the series following a particular set of adventures — we’ll be exploring the people of the city and the superhero genre, as before, and seeing what kind of stories we can tell that you just can’t get anywhere else, stories ranging from a day in the life of a sorcerer’s assistant to the ongoing relationship between Samaritan and Winged Victory, and more.

We have plans to visit other planets, to reveal more about Astro City’s past, to explore the life of super-powered people who never chose to become heroes or villains, and lots more. I even intend to finally get to my talking gorilla story

 

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This week saw a number of big comic releases from Marvel and DC, but who cares when this was the week My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #1 came out? PONIES, you guys! Ponies all over the place.

This week I’ll be reviewing My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #1, Hellblazer #297, Gambit #6 and Masks #1

 

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is the unexpected mass-market hit cartoon series which came out of nowhere to hit every demographic. The series grew such a strong fanbase, in fact, that pre-orders for this spin-off comic series went ballistic, and Katie Cook and Andy Price were left with a smash hit before anybody read a word or saw a single hoof. Issue #1 of IDW’s series doesn’t pay much lip service to new fans, instead asking them to immediately catch up on a fast-paced opening story which races around a large cast of diverse and well-characterised ponies at breakneck speed. Jokes and puns and visual gags fly out from all angles, with almost every one landing. And amazingly, the creative team manage to make the book accessible without pausing to explain anything about the world the characters live in.

Cook is primarily a great humorist, and her voice for the book is immediately charming and entertaining. Whilst it’s hard for this “no-ny” (I knew nothing of the series before reading this book) to know how well she matches or moves away from the voice of the cartoon, I was pretty struck by Cook’s ability to string along an endless succession of gags whilst retaining exposition and story. She’s matched by lovely art from Andy Price, who refuses to draw stock figures from the cartoon and instead invests his own sense of life into the various galloping protagonists. His use of layout is rather spectacular, with thought given to how the panels stand alongside each other and progress the story. This isn’t spectacle for the sake of spectacle, but rather an intelligent use of page space and structure.

 

A lot of people were very very upset when DC recently announced the cancellation of Hellblazer, but let’s celebrate what we have left – three more issues – rather than mourn a book we might not actually read. Hellblazer has been in the hands of creative team Peter Milligan, Giuseppi Camuncoli and Brian Buccellato for a while now, although this issue is finished by Stefano Landini. The most recent issue concludes the ‘Curse of the Constantines’ storyline, which seems to finish off a number of Milligan’s dangling plot threads regarding Constantine’s family, especially his sister. Being from Liverpool himself, Milligan has proven to be one of the best Constantine writers since also-Scouse Mike Carey, with both being able to effortlessly write lines for the character which are both authentic and very, very funny.

With this being the last of a five-issue storyline, Camuncoli’s art is flagging a little here. Although he takes care to distinctively shape the big moments and standout sequences, some of the pages feature scratchier art which Buccellato can’t do much with. The story here does feature a little bit of a Milligan anticlimax, something the writer sometimes falls prey to. Whilst Constantine’s plan to save the day is funny, it is very slight indeed, and requires a leap of characterisation for the Eva Brady character. Regardless, the grasp on dialogue is spot-on and more than enough to carry the day here, setting Constantine up for a final storyline which gives him a fresh break from the past, and leaves the future unpredictable and exciting for the character.

 

James Asmus‘ Gambit series has been growing in confidence after a strong opening issue turned into a slightly wobbly first storyline. Each issue of the book has featured some kind of heist, and it’s to Asmus’ credit that heist 6 feels just as unpredictable as heist 1. We’re now in the middle of a storyline where the thief finds himself forced to steal from Pete Wisdom and the British MI13 team (although only Faiza Hussain also appears in the storyline so far). Asmus does light-hearted thrills nicely, although the artwork here seems to be a classic case of a Marvel title getting rushed by scheduling. Diogenes Neves is capable of better work when he isn’t under the pressure he seems to be under here, and indeed he shares art duties here with Al Barrionuevo after only one issue by himself.

It’s a shame that Marvel have recently taken to battering their artists with tighter and tighter deadlines, as it’s led to a rise of fill-ins and rushed pages. There’s a splash page here where we see the insides of MI13′s armoury, a page which was clearly intended to be filled with detail and exciting. However, it looks bare, with a few guns and bits of scrap metal lying around. Give Neves time to draw this page, I bet he’d have made it something exciting to look at. Without that time, his page does a disservice to Asmus’ story.

However, Asmus does seem to be rapidly building his world for the book, with a rising cast and some nice character moments for the main character. He doesn’t write anyone as an idiot in order to make somebody else look good – Pete Wisdom, Faiza Hussain, Gambit and Cich are all juggled nicely between each other here. The Gambit character has also benefited hugely from the retooling Asmus has given him, with a better direction, personality and motivation than he’s had in a decade. The best sequences in the issue are the ones with Gambit in them, as the focus, and that’s because Asmus has done such a great job of making the character exciting to be with again.

 

It appears that the pre-sales for Dynamite’s team-up book Masks have been stonking, and a massive success for the company. Written by Chris Roberson and with this first issue painted by Alex Ross, the series teams up Zorro, The Spider, The Shadow and The Green Hornet for a pulp nostalgia trip. Being somewhat unfamiliar with all the characters, this first issue left me a little confused, but with a sense that Roberson is heading somewhere good. Green Hornet provides the perspective for readers, as we follow him interact with first The Shadow, and then the rest of the heroes. I’m not entirely certain what Zorro’s role in the book is at present – he might have appeared, but I really can’t tell if that was him or not. The introduction of The Spider is also blatantly tacked on, albeit in a hilariously camp manner that I couldn’t help but enjoy. Roberson seems to be having a lot of fun here, and Ross is clearly having a ball.

Roberson allows for the reader to view the story as a camp homage just as much as he writes a pulp narrative, here, balancing the two different styles neatly. The story is simultaneously involving and completely ridiculous nonsense, but in the most enjoyable manner possible. He also makes sure to write for Ross, whose painted pages are far less static than you might expect. The fight scene towards the end is a particularly well-done sequence from the pair, while the conversation sequences aren’t overshadowed by dead-eyed staring from everybody involved – as can be the case for painted work. Ross reminds that he’s an excellent storyteller as well as painter with this issue, and it’ll be interesting to see how the story progresses beyond here. It’s a qualified success, in that it’ll play far better to fans who already love and know the characters than it will bring in and keep new readers.

 

– As a final note! Let’s take a moment to praise letterer Cory Petit, who is currently working on X-Men Legacy. This is a book with a myriad things happening in the word balloons, and Petit’s ability to juggle it all is pretty incredible. It’s probably one of the most demanding comics I’ve seen, and he manages to take everything Si Spurrier throws at him — and make it work.

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By Steve Morris

Boldly going where no man has gone before, kicking off a Star Wars article with a Star Trek reference, it looks like SDCC announcement fever has already hit America! Before San Diego even begins, Dark Horse have announced that Brian Wood is to be the new writer of a Star Wars series starting next year. Based on George Lucas’ classic Star Wars trilogy (and NONE OF THE OTHER FILMS), the series will feature the classic characters doing classic things. No monkeying around with Gungans this time! Art is by Carlos D’Anda, with covers by Alex Ross.

Covers like this one!

io9 seem to be the ones responsible for breaking this news, and have an interview with Wood up already. And here’s a quote from Wood himself, posted to his tumblr account:

I’m writing an ongoing Star Wars book for Dark Horse. Not just any Star Wars book, this will be called “Star Wars”, and will be set in the original trilogy, using the classic characters, and will pretend like its 1977 and no other films were every made or books ever written aside from “A New Hope”. Carlos D’Anda is on art, Gabe Eltaeb on colors, and Alex Ross on covers. LucasFilm asked for me personally, and I felt it too irresistible a job to pass up.  I’m three scripts into it and having fun.  The book launches in Dec or January.

Oh yeah, Leia’s an X-Wing pilot.

The series is set to start in January 2013. I hope there’s Ewoks!

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By Todd Allen

I learned something new today. Remember how Watchmen started out as a treatment for the Charlton characters DC had purchased? Come to find out out, DC didn’t purchase the rights to all the Charlton characters and Dynamite now has the rights to Peter Cannon/Thunderbolt. As in, the prototype for Watchmen’s Ozymandias.

It seems that Pete Morisi, who created the character, had merely leased the rights to DC. Dynamite has licensed the character from the Morisi family and the book is set to debut in September. The writing team will be Alex Ross and Steve Darnall. You might remember that Ross and Darnell collaborated on Uncle Sam, many moons ago. (Personally, I was always fond of Darnall’s mid-90s Empty Love Stories.) Art will be by Jonathan Lau.

This isn’t the first post-Watchmen Morisi character revival. Back in the ’90s, Max Allan Collins and Terry Beatty revived Morisi’s private detective character “Johnny Dynamite” for a horror-tinged mini-series at Dark Horse.

While not exactly a household name these days, Morisi does have a cult following among artists. The first issue of the Dynamite revival will include a previously unpublished Morisi origin story for Peter Cannon, so you can get a good look at his work. Mark Waid is also tagging along to write a forward to the comic.

Official PR follows, plus come covers and interior art.

BEFORE WATCHMEN!

BEFORE OZYMANDIAS!

THERE WAS PETER CANNON!!!

June 13th, 2012 – Mount Laurel, NJ - Dynamite proudly presents - Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt returns to comics this coming September!  Peter Cannon was created by the late Pete Morisi. Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #1 is written by Steve Darnall and Alex Ross, drawn by superstar artist Jonathan Lau, with covers by Alex Ross, Jae Lee, John Cassaday, and Ardian Syaf!

In Peter Cannon: Thunderbolt #1, Peter Cannon is a world-famous author, an international celebrity, and the superhero known as Thunderbolt.  He is acknowledged far and wide as the man who saved the world from destruction. Unfortunately, he has little interest in fame, even less interest in people, and the peace he has created is based on an illusion. Now, as old and new enemies plan to destroy his efforts-unaware of the secret he carries-Peter Cannon must fight to keep the peace and preserve his own existence, while fending off deadly foes…and mysterious admirers.

Issue #1 also contains extra material – Peter Cannon’s never before published origin story by Peter Cannon creator, Pete Morisi for a total of 48 pages all for the regular price of $3.99!  This issue is soooo big, it features a forward by Mark (Kingdom Come) Waid!

“I have a great sentimentality for all of the Silver Age heroes,” says Alex Ross. “Peter Cannon belongs to that age of the heroic pantheon, and we have the chance to use him,

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"It is a matter not of traveling from one place to another, but of uncovering
the destination inside the point of departure." Steve Reich.

THE REST IS NOISE, LISTENING TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, by Alex Ross (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007) is a history of twentieth century "classical" music. And it rocks with the beat of a chaotic century. Dense with biography and cultural context, it leafs through the pages of time with a close look that is light and clear.

From Strauss and Mahler, who open the century, to Reich and Adams who close it, the sounds of street and country, oppression and rebellion move together and separately (tonally and atonally?) in a hypnotic dance. Alex Ross is brilliant, not just in explaining a complex subject, but in evoking the very essence of music with his language.

This is a great read. It has history, biography, music, culture, and clash in it.

Although there is a clear narrative element, THE REST IS NOISE, achieves something much larger, more panoramic than a trip through the decades from start to finish. Brian Eno's words on minimalism could apply equally to Alex Ross' history of music: "a drift away from narrative and towards landscape, from performed event to sonic space."

Curiously enough, the writer in me wants to rush out, and --not listen to all of the music described elegantly, not purchase the suggested listening recordings, but rather-- find and re-read Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus. And then I want to listen to the sounds of the 20th century!

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