weather. And summertime means comic book event season is upon us.
If you’ve had your fill of movie tie-in books, Avengers pounding on X-Men (and vice
versa), Batman’s private army gripped in battle against Gotham’s latest menace, the
Court of Owls, both Marvel and DC are serving up a few more big events to help you
spend your comic book dollar.
Spider-Men – (5 issue limited series)
As soon as the first teaser went out, people had pretty much figured out what Marvel
was planning. Peter Parker and Mile Morales, the new Spider-Man from the Ultimate
universe, will meet in this limited series, the publisher has confirmed.
The event marks the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of Spidey in the pages
of Marvel Fantasy back in 1962 - an incredible testament to the enduring nature of
Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s most famous character.
It’s too bad this event smacks a little of trying to boost the sluggish sales of USM
by having Parker appear in the pages. This past April, the comic moved about the
same number of copies it was doing in the months leading up to the Death of
Spider-Man event that rocked the Ultimate universe a year ago.
Before Watchmen
Already controversial, this set of limited series and a one-shot feature the
characters created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons back in the mid-80s. The events of
these books take place before that iconic series that defined the medium for many
years to follow.
The good: The seven titles feature some of the most talented creators on DC’s roster
including Brian Azzarello, Darwyn Cooke, Len Wein, Amanda Cooner – the list goes on.
The bad: This project has become a bit of a flashpoint for creator rights, adds more
fuel to Alan Moore’s longstanding beef with DC, and shines the spotlight again on
the legal battle between the publisher and the estate of Superman co-creator Jerry
Siegel.
The ugly: DC/Vertigo writer Chris Roberson lost his gig with the DC after blasting
his employer on Twitter over creator rights.
If you, like myself, came of age in the 80s and had your mind blown by Moore and
Gibbons’s original series, it’s easy to get excited by these books.
Astonishing X-Men
While Marvel still hasn’t gone on the record, the comic book communities across the
Internet have pretty much decided Marvel’s other X-Men event is the wedding of its
first outwardly gay superhero, Northstar, to partner Kyle Higgins. Issue #51 will
feature the nuptials. While this isn’t the first wedding Marvel has hosted, it will
be the first for a same-sex couple. I wonder if Marvel has invited US President
Obama considering his recent proclamation on the subject. Marjorie Liu will write
the couple’s vows assisted by Mike Perkins on pencils.
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| This is what the actual comic looks like. Not the proposal image the damn news sites keep showing! |
Wedding issues often come across a gimmicky, but Liu is a good writer. Hopefully she
has something special planned for the couple.
If you’re thinking of attending the ceremony, you’ll want to pick up the lead-in
issue #50 (has it been that many already?) in comic books stores on May 23.
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