December, 2006

newuniversal #1   And so, the book I've been waiting a good year for has finally hit the stands; that's right: newuniversal #1 is in comic book stores at long last! Presented by Warren Ellis and Salvador Larocca, newuniversal is the tale of an alternate world, with a decidedly different history, that is suddenly exposed to energies from Beyond. Though not the start of things, it's certainly the turning point. I've read the various interviews about this project and I find that I really like the whole idea. Not just because it's a New Universe project that's ongoing, of course, but because the people behind it have worked hard to make the world it takes place in a unique creation - earth, yet not OUR earth. It's a pretty cool exercise in world building from the ground up. I just have the first issue, of course, but what I've seen so far has me very enthusiastic that this is going places. Two of my favorite creators on one of my favorite 'properties' going all out to make the best story they can, how can one lose? Some people will bemoan the whole 'starting over' approach, but really, Starblast pretty much wrecked any idea of picking up the pieces of the 'first' New U. I had some notions in that regard for a campaign setting, but that's neiter here nor there; it's not like I get paid to make really good comics (or any comics, for that matter; my scribbles have been published once). I'm content to sit back and enjoy this ride, and possibly put together some newuniversal materials for the 13 once I get a proper handle on the world and the people in it. I'd try bugging the writer, but they have laws about that sort of thing... Until then, if you're at all wanting to support the New Universe concepts in print, make sure you go and pick up a copy of this beast - I grabbed 3 myself. I will likely give the spares away to try and 'hook' people I know that are into comics, but sadly these days they're few and far between (cursed Omaha). I may just leave them somewhere in order to ambush someone into a comics habit. Some sort of drive-by comic-booking, perhaps? Hm... a gun that fires comic books...

Star Brand Classic #1!   In other news... It looks like the first issue of newuniversal had sold out on its original print run. Pretty cool, eh? Makes me wonder if they'll be doing a reprint - and I'll have to pick up more... heh. But that aside, that's definitely a good sign for the future of the book, to have the first issue sell out completely. I'm just hoping people don't get all weird like they did on Nextwave - another awesome Ellis book that got jipped. And in still more news, there's a preview for the cover of newuinversal number 4 out, but I am... hesitant to put it on the 13 right now. Looks like they've plastered a 'marvel dot com' logo all over the preview covers they've released on the various news sites, and that's retarded. Why should I be required to hawk their site in order to simply report on the news they've released? Feh. I'll think on that one. In still more news, I found by dumb luck a preview of the art available for newuniversal issue 2 over here (avoid if you don't want slightly spoiled). Looks like things are picking up right where they left off and, if the cover hadn't already given it away - it's Spitfire! Can't wait to get my grubby hands on this thing when it comes out next month... I'm told the Star Brand collection came out the 6th but haven't seen it yet - I'll check again tomorrow to see if it's in my store after all.

November, 2006

Marvel Legacy: the 1980's Handbook #1     A.N.O.H.O.T.M.U. A to Z #11   I noted upon reading my copy of Agents of Atlas #4, released here on the first day of the month, that there was a full-page ad for the imminent premiere of newuniversal #1, coming only next month. Which is a good sign, in that this means the powers that be feel it's a good idea to advertise the laterst outing of the New Universe stuff before it hits the shelves, and not a month or so afterwards. Imagine that. As the month progresses, though, things get even more interesting, however. Marvel Legacy: the 1980s Handbook came out, a summary of sorts of that decade in the Marvel Universe. This nifty book has a two page spread on DP 7, a two page entry on Psi-Force, and a full-page entry on Nightmask - covering their actual print runs and including 'whatever happened to them' snippets in the index at the end. Similarly, that A.N.O.H.O.T.M.U.A to Z issue 11 came out this month, and had a pretty good write-up of both the Stranger and Thanatos, two folks from the Marvel Universe (or so) that had interaction with New Universe folks in some manner or another (one more than the other, even if both seem to have a similar level of raw power to play with). So for all 3 of you completists, go pick it up. We insist or something. Is good reference material!

newuniversal #3   That 'hr' tag above, it indicates a drastic change in subject. As such, let me inform you that I have dug up a preview image for the cover of newuniveral #3, due out in February. Other than seeing Tensen in the margins of the image, this one doesn't hint at who it might involve storywise. But, you can sort of see a design theme in the covers by comparing all 3 preview images one after the other (which you can do right here - go me). Perhaps this is a nod to the original line's design work. Beats me - I'm merely an amateur artist. Also, Newsarama has a thing on the new newuniversal issue coming out next month, including a nine page, fully scripted preview - with some bits different than the one previously featured on the Marvel.com web site. Head over here to check it out if you're wanting to read a little bit of it in advance - unless you're avoiding spoilers. I couldn't wait myself, of course, but I know some people are real sticklers about avoiding spoilers if they can. Heh, sticklers. I like that word. Sticklers! I'd add that to the Lexinomicon ® if it didn't already actually exist. Of course Lexinomicon itself is a word apparently; and here I thought I was being clever (even if Google only came back with 98 results, I'm still not first... feh).

October, 2006

A.N.O.H.O.T.M.U. A to Z #8   newuniversal #2   Heya! The January solicitations for Marvel are out, and it looks like we've got a sneak peek at the cover for newuniversal #2 here for your viewing pleasure. I'm sure you can come up with 300 comics news sites for the specific texts involved, so I'll spare you the cut and paste action there, but hey. newuniversal! This looks like an interesting cover, a possible swank reimagining of the Spitfire suit. In other news, those self-same Solicitations for January state that the All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Update for 2007, a four issue limited series, is on the way. Complementing the description of Justice in the 2006 series, this first issue features none other than Mark Hazzard: Merc! Yeah, it's Hazzard of all people, showing up with an entry for the freshly ressurected Quasar. If you dig the New Universe I highly recommend you keep picking these handbooks up. I'm loving the work these folks do (and only hate 'em 'cause I'm not in on their action... heheh). Finally, this month's All New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z covers the Starblasters, that group behind the whole Starblast debacle. Details on that mess abound, so head down to your comic book shop today!

September, 2006

newuniversal #1   So apparently I've been snoozing on the New Universe News front, in that I'd simply missed two rather interesting things that had basically blindsided me in my daily readings online (got to love my days off). See, it turns out that there are two neat releases coming out in December in relation to the New Universe. That's right, not one, but two! The first is a collection of Star Brand issues. Yeah, that guy. It looks like Marvel's putting out a reprint of the first seven issues of the Star Brand series, the ones by Jim Shooter and John Romita Jr. Good stuff, of course, and I'll have to buy it even though I have the originals (so that they'll make more, naturally), but that's not the big news. Awesome in and of itself of course, but I saw that December also features the premiere of the new New Universe series, newuniversal! By Warren Ellis and Salvador Larocca, this is a 'reboot' of sorts of the whole New Universe ideal, basically taking the core concepts and running with them. And truth be told, I like what I saw so far. Yes, Marvel's web site is featuring an eight page preview of the new book - no texty bubbles of course, but it shows the art. And the art so far is very nice. And hints at some really interesting stuff... which I'll naturally be digging a lot.

August, 2006

Not much going on this month really, though I hear the folks that do the Official Handbooks are also putting out a guide book to the Marvel 80's, which will feature a lot of summaries of the New Universe books, so there's one you want to pick up. This thing is coming out in November, just a month before the month-long consumer train wreck that is X-Mas, so make sure you grab it before it's too late! You know, after you've spent all your cash on presents!

July, 2006

the Untold Tales of the New Universe TPB   A.N.O.H.O.T.M.U. A to Z #6   Saw two things of note for the month of July, which was nice after a relative dearth of New Universe activity once the Untold Tales event had concluded. Well, there was some but it was mostly covered elsewhere quite well, so I let that go. Basically, issue 6 of the new Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe came out this month, and it featured a full entry on John Tensen: Justice! It's pretty in depth, too. It basically consists of a full background and description of his abilities, like all those Handbook entries do. Which helps to show how important Tensen really is in the whole 'scheme' of things in the Marvel realm; having been in the New Universe and 2099 and possibly more realms as of yet unrevealed, the guy's been all over the place. Tied to Spider-Man 2099 and an evil Rick Jones variant, he's noteworthy all right. In addition to this, I am told that the collected version, or trade paperback, of the Untold Tales of the New Universe was released; I have yet to see this in my local comic book store; I could drive FOUR WHOLE MILES to the next one over, I suppose, but that would take effort... and I am so tired of late. I intend to pick one up whenever I have the cash to spare, however, which will hopefully be soon.

March, 2006

Amazing Fantasy #18   Now this is better. While the first offering of the Untold Tales of the New Universe was hidden far in the back of last month's New Avengers release, the second not only says it's participating, but features Mark Hazzard on the cover - painted no less - alongside Death's Head 3.0. I am liking this particular series very much of late, having always enjoyed Simon Furman's work, but a Merc story is just icing on the cake. Like the backup tale the month before, this 9-page story is a quick slam-bang action story featuring Mark Hazzard and his two main cohorts, Louis 'Treetop' Barrington and Mal Rossi, as they fulfill a contract without actually killing anyone. Of course they blow a whole lot of stuff up, and manage to shoot a bunch of people in the process, but hey - that's what you expect from a Mark Hazzard story. Mayhem - and lots of it! Similar to the Kickers, Inc. backup published last month, it's hard to place this story in Merc continuity; not that it's working against such at all, but there are no specific pointers as to when it happens. I believe this is going on before issue 6, but I'll have to work on narrowing that down some; I could be wrong but we'll see after I re-read the first eleven issues of his series. I'll have to consult the Timeline of the New Universe thing they had running for awhile. Enjoy!

Untold Tales of the New Universe: Star Brand   During my same trip to the comic book store that yielded Amazing Fantasy issue 18, I saw the oddest thing on the stands. A comic featuring the logo of the Star Brand. I think I just stood there and stared for a few seconds while my mind tried to catch up with what my eyes were telling me. At first I thought this was just that Starbrand #1 / Quasar #1 dual reprint I'd read was coming down the pipe in the near future, but no. This was an all new, full-length New Universe story featuring the Star Brand! Untold Tales of the New Universe: Star Brand tells the tale of a researcher from an alternate universe who is studying instances of the Star Brand in various timelines, and how their wielder uses (or abuses) them. When she reaches the timeline of the New Universe proper, she starts by pumping a man she finds leaving the solar system for information. Once she learns who she's looking for, this explorer heads to earth, only to run afoul of Ken Connell. The story gets really interesting from here, and goes much further than the paragraph description I'd read about the story led me to believe, getting all cosmic and metaphysical about the nature of the Marvel multiverse in general - and the possible nature of the Star Brand itself. It's a very good read in my opinion, even if you're not a big fan of the New Universe in general. Highly Recommended!

Untold Tales of the New Universe: Nightmask   I had two weeks' wait before I could enjoy more installments of the Untold Tales, mostly because I couldn't find the Nightmask issue in my local comic book store - had to drive FOUR WHOLE MILES to another comic shop to look there. Oh noes! But the point is part four of the Untold Tales of the New Universe event is, of course, the Nightmask one-shot. And I have to admit that this is the one issue I was looking forward to the most, when you get down to it. Taking place between issues four and five of the Nightmask series, this Untold Tale features the final battle between Nightmask and the Gnome that was advertised to take place after issue 4 - but never did. Change of writer, change of artist, etc... The actual tale advertised in issue 4 may've been written, drawn and put in one of those 'filler issue' boxes that they used to have back in the day, but the world may never know. But that's ok. And this is because this was actually a satisfying conclusion to the whole 'Gnome' story. Satisfying in that it's a big battle in the Dreamscape between two people that can mess with dreams, and of course because it has a really odd end that sort of makes sense in a strange way. And also provides a good reason for everyone to have an unconscious loathing for gnomes - whether they're of the 'real' variety or the lawn sort. You decide...

Untold Tales of the New Universe: Justice   With him being one of my favorite New Universe characters, it was a real treat to see a new issue of Justice on the stands, especially since they managed to get Peter David to write it. He, of course, being the writer of that series' most memorable run. He didn't write the first fourteen issues of that book, but he sure as heck made it not-awful once he took over - it was a pretty good time actually. This particular story of his takes place shortly after Tensen himself was 'cured' of the psychotic delusion of being from another dimension, the point at which he became known as the 'Justice Killer' since he was dispensing his own brand of justice on various paranormals that were using their powers to their own advantage in ways that were harming ordinary humans that couldn't defend themselves properly. It seems to take place between issues 15 and 18, though the exact placement is hard to pin down; I'll have to re-read my books and see if I can narrow it down a little more. But all that aside this is a great addition to my New Universe collection, since it's more of the goodness I was loving while that line of books was still in print. It could've only been better had Lee Weeks done the pencils...

Untold Tales of the New Universe: Spitfire   This particular Untold Tale came doubled up with another excellent issue of Furman's Death Head 3.0 feature in Amazing Fantasy - so it's like two treasures for the price of one! Though only featured in the 'back up' story position of the book, our Untold Tale is a story of Jenny Swensen, in her earliest days of being Spitfire. Though that frame of time doesn't quite mean what you might think it does. You see, this story actually takes place before Spitfire and the Troubleshooters #1, which works since Jenny's the only person in the New Universe (not counting the Old Man and perhaps the Psi-Force kids) who has superhuman abilities at that time. Even if her 'abilities' take the form of a Mark I Spitfire armor. This was what made it kind of interesting, as at this time hers was a world without heroes. Basically this tale sees Jenny piloting the Mark I suit into the nuclear disaster area that is Chernobyl as the place melts down, trying to do some sort of good with the suit and perhaps help stave off a disaster. It's one of the few times we ever actually get to see this suit in action, so it gives some good insight into what it's capable of (and means I've got some work to do on my game description for that goofy thing...).

Untold Tales of the New Universe: D.P. 7   I have to be honest in saying that I've got little idea where this particular Untold Tale is taking place, chronologically speaking. I imagine between issues one and ten - but that's sort of vague. I may place it better once I've re-read the first year of D.P. 7 stores, though knowing how meticulous the original writer was with places and locations, I may need to break out an Atlas to sort it out in the end. Heh. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, in that it really helps to point out just how good a title the original D.P. 7 series was. This particular story is its own little thing of course, but it seems to me at least to portray the characters involved with about as much character as they originally had, and seemed to 'fit in' with that 'on the run from the Clinic' theme that was going on in the beginning. There's some odd things going on with a few of the displaced folks' powers though, which I don't recall seeing in the original run (like Glitter actually giving people power boosts on top of healing, etc...), but this only detracts from the story in question slightly. If you liked the original run you should enjoy this; it's not quite the original material's quality, but it's not bad at all - definitely a decent read, especially if you miss these guys.

Untold Tales of the New Universe: Psi-Force   The difficulty in summing up this particular issue is that Psi-Force was my favorite New Universe series, even before Fabian Nicieza took it over and made it 't3h awesome'. That makes me even more biased about this particular portion of the Untold Tales event, which is why I'm not sure having 'I don't know if it was all that great' coming out of my keyboard can be taken too seriously. Or I'd start sounding like that 'comic book guy' on the Simpsons. Brr. It's not a problem with the writer, mind you - he's the guy behind that whole World Tour thing going on as of yet (part 10 came out this same week I believe). The problem I have is that it introduces this new character that is not only related to the team's original, dead mentor - but apparently has the same powers: a bit of mind control, and the ability to summon up a 'psi-hawk' all his own. Which is sort of impressive really. The only problem here is that most of the New Universe folks got their powers randomly, and super powers hardly ever run in families - and when two family members wound up with powers (like Justice and his daughter), they were RADICALLY different. That was the only thing that seemed to run against the grain here; overall, the story itself was a nice solid, conspiracy-laden Psi-Force tale you'd expect.

The problem with writing all of these summaries / opines at once regarding the Untold Tales of the New Universe is that I'm probably saying similar things about all of them. Yes, I did like most of the stories of course, except for probably the Psi-Force one. And you get to hear me ramble about when/where in continuity they take place - and you may not necessarily find this exciting (possibly excruciating). Of course, the best way to get the low-down on these books is to buy them. Yes, buy them! If you buy a ton, that'll send the Powers That Be in comic book land a message; mind you, they're too busy killing off every minor Marvel hero at the moment, from Alpha Flight to the New Warriors, so perhaps staying under the radar is the preferred method to go by. All in all I'm very happy with the Untold Tales of the New Universe event, though it probably could've got a bit more press; putting the ad for the event in books during the second to last week makes it hard to follow. That and not bothering to even mention it's going on in the first issue it occurs in, but I already griped about that last month, so I'll drop it. I'm just glad there was an event like this in the first place, a sort of fan service for the six people still alive that actually dug the New Universe in general. Now I look forward to the Star Brand / Quasar first issue double header reprint double, Justice showing up in one of the Official Handbooks of the Marvel Universe, and that Ellis 'newuniversal' thing. Yay 2006!

February, 2006

New Avengers #16   So with the most difficult to hear whimper possible, the folks at Marvel began their Untold Tales of the New Universe event. How did they start this event, you ask? Typically there's some sort of ad in a book somewhere stating that hey, here's an event. Or, you know, they'll tell you on the cover of a book that it's tying into the event somehow. The savvy marketing geniuses at Marvel, however, chose to simply make you luck into their current event. This you see here is the cover to New Avengers issue 16. If you click on it you can look closer, and see that there is no mention of the fact that it contains a backup story featuring the men and women of Kickers, Inc. This does not surprise me, though, for if you actually read this story, you'll see that almost nobody featured on the cover appears in the comic, either. You could, in fact, call this 'Director Hill: Agent of SHIELD issue 1' if you wanted. Am I saying I dislike the main feature? You bet. I find the more I read the writer of this particular series, the more he irritates me to no end - sort of like the effect you get from reading Chris Claremont. He has great ideas, but he can only write his characters in one voice. They all talk the same. Same slang, same quirks, regardless of where they come from and their story up to the point that he actually started writing them. But I digress into matters not related to the main news item here. Getting to the point (finally putting my rant to rest), there's a nine page back-up story in this book featuring Kickers, Inc. It's a very fast-paced tale, featuring one of their old enemies duping the team into trapping themselves in some other dimension, one full of demonic things that delight in ruining their day. It's hard to place where in the Kickers, Inc. timeline this story takes place, but it gives you an impression it's happening before the End of the series - if not just a little bit after. Enjoy!

January, 2006

Exiles #75   Exiles #76   Hot on the heels of the release of Exiles 74, we see issue 75 coming forth but two weeks later; how often does THAT happen in comics these days? This one picks up right where the last one left off, depositing the evil Proteus in none other than the year 2099. It's a nice sort of 'fan' service at that, with Justice (still possessed by Proteus) being fished out of virtual unreality by Jordan Boone - at a point before he became Halloween Jack. Those familiar with Justice's particularly bizarre history should enjoy this, what with that being how the character was introduced to the 2099 universe in the first place. It makes one wonder if the Net Prophet (as Justice came to be known in this timeline) will also show up to make things more interesting and/or confusing in general. Either way, I find myself keeping with the story even after the New Universe has come and gone. Have to see what happens to poor Justice after all...! Even stranger than getting two issues of a monthly comic two weeks in a row is, of course, having that itself happen twice in a row. What I'm blabbering about, of course, is seeing Exiles issue 76 come out just a few weeks after issue 75. This particular issue ends the heroes' stay in this futuristic timeline, as the villainous, House of M version of Proteus gets what he's looking for in the form of the evil Hulk 2099, and moves on. With the Exiles folks hot on his heels, they don't bother to check if Justice is actually 'spent' after being rode roughshod by Proteus, since the villain left as soon as he found the new 'vehicle' he was looking for. And this may be intentional, since I think the whole idea was to leave this alternate version of Justice in this alternate version of Marvel 2099 as a repeat of what happened to the 'real' versions of each. Hard to say either way, really. Of course, this seems to end the appearances of the various New Universe folks in this title, which is too bad - some of the cover art previews was STRONGLY hinting that someone from the alternate New Universe these Exiles folks visited was going to join the roster. And seeing who they picked INSTEAD of such a person, someone from the Squadron Supreme universe (as you see in the next few issues of Exiles), means my interest in the title is gone. Don't get me wrong, I'm not panning the book or anything. I'll definitely be buying the rest of the story since I'm a rabid completist and hate to stop buying a decent story in mid-stride. I'm just disappointed that it didn't go the way I was hoping is all; nobody SAID what I thought would occur would in fact happen, after all, so there's that. Regardless, if you're digging Exiles keep on trucking - I hear Claremont's taking it over really soon. Of course, after that whole 'New Excalibur' mess I'm not sure that's a good thing...

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