OCTOBER PREVIEWS-THE END

This may not be as much work today as the last 3 since the Marvel catalog, for once, is not loaded down with new titles. In fact a few of the #1's they do list have little or no appeal to me.


Howard the Duck is one of those characters that's been hanging around the back of the M.U. for a while and I'm not surprised to see this mini-series come up. Ty Templeton should deliver a fine story, the problem I have is with the Bobillo art. This cartoony style does not do Howard justice. Perhaps Marvel doesn't understand the original appeal of the duck is that he wasn't a cartoon, but a living being from a dimension where ducks were the dominant life form on Earth. As such, he should look as realistic as possible. If anyone is still interested in this book after seeing the cover, make sure to get your order in, there won't be a lot ( if any) copies going on the shelves.

Another Gerber character is resurrected in October, Omega the Unknown , and I can only assume from the art on this one too, that Marvel really does not want either of these properties to succeed. I usually try not to judge books so harshly but Omega first debuted in the 70’s, so I am pretty much its target audience, and I don’t find this book the least bit appealing. Again, if you have an interest in this book speak up early or miss it entirely.

Speaking of resurrections, another Marvel Zombies mini-series begins.Marvel just seems intent on beating a dead horse as dead as possible. This time around the dead "heroes" return to Earth to be greeted by an amazing, astounding discovery. Not since the days of Stan Lee have so many adjectives been wasted in one solicitation. Your money would be better spent on the Walking Dead paperbacks, a series Kirkman would be better off spending more time on before his increasing lateness issues start to hurt his sales.


Before you think I'm just in a Marvel bashing mood, I am looking forward to the What If? Hulk one-shot. 3 short stories each with a different twist on the Planet Hulk story. Greg Pak writes them all, and the Marvel site lists Leonard Kirk as an artist(although his name is missing from the Previews listing), still the cover alone should sell this one.

Marvel has had an on-going series of 1-shots for a while now that seem to slip under most peoples radar. Mythos Fantastic Four is the latest in this run of painted origin stories.

X-Men Messiah Complex one-shot is billed as the start of the big X-men event of the decade. I'm pretty sure that's the same thing they said about Endangered Species. I love Ed Brubaker on his crime and espionage stories, his Captain America run is the first time I ever cared about the character. But other than that first mini-series, Deadly Genesis, his X-Men stuff has left me a little cold.

Claremont writes Exiles, Claremont writes Excalibur, so how long before the two books have a crossover? X-Men Die by the Sword#1 was just a matter of time ever since he added Psylocke to the exiles. All I can say is, both titles have been slowly losing sales since Claremont came on. Exiles was one of my favourite Marvel titles for a couple years running, but I doubt if I'll bother to read this.

Marvel gives us another Max Sampler this year, its a good way to introduce some new stuff, and for a buck its a pretty good deal. Inside is a preview for Foolkiller #1 which brings back another 70's character who basically was a joke version of Punisher. Now that the Max line has given us a more mature ( violenter?) Punisher, I guess it's time to bump the Foolkiller up a notch as well.