Marvel Reviews

Revolutionary War Alpha is a mini event comprised of one shot issues, each featuring a different character from the early 90's Marvel UK titles. Dark Angel, Death's Head, Motormouth and the Knights of Pendragon all have future one-shots coming out over the following weeks, and Revolutionary War Alpha #1 is the setup.

Captain Britain and Pete Wisdom are charged with forming a team after a possible resurgence of Mys-Tech, a group of techno-wizards who once nearly destroyed Britain. After a fierce battle involving a number of Britain's best, Mys-Tech were thought destroyed. With evidence of a return, SHIELD begins working with heroes from the UK to put a stop the the potential disaster.

It looks like each major Marvel UK character is going to have their own one shot book, and each will tie into the Mys-Tech story. It should be fun seeing these old heroes back at it, as it's been more than a few years for most of them. Andy Lanning and Alan Cowsill are writing with Rich Elson on art. It's not a familiar creative team, but they work well to tell this story together.

The first issue is a pretty good setup, and a great way to jump into some new (old) characters for those who missed out in the 90's. It's also a pretty fun story that hopefully won't be pushed under the rug by the top books on the shelves.

Black Widow #1

Nathan Edmondson and Phil Noto are the perfect combination for a book featuring a female assassin. Black Widow will probably be one of the best new All-New Marvel NOW! titles based on this first issue alone.

It's mostly a character piece, allowing unfamiliar readers to learn who Natasha Romanov is and what motivates her. Much like other solo hero books, it looks like backup in the form of other Avengers will be sparse, allowing for the spotlight to shine on Black Widow.

This first issue is pretty action packed, though even the action scenes serve as character building moments and not just flashy artwork or filler material. Some of the pages are without dialogue, and serve as solid examples of sequential art. Noto and Edmondson really get to have fun with one.

Topping everything off, we get to see some of Natasha's personal life when she's not "at work", which is pretty rare in the team books she's currently on. It looks like she's got a bit of company in the form of a new cat as well. This first issue sets things up well, and hints at a lot to look forward to. This is sure to be a popular book with Marvel's new line of titles.

All New Marvel NOW! Point One

This is Marvel's standard segue into the slew of upcoming new titles. An oversized issue, it consists of six prologues which will lead into six new All New Marvel NOW! Titles:

Loki: Agent of Asgard
Silver Surfer
All New Invaders
Black Widow
Ms. Marvel
Avengers World

The prologues aren't necessary to enjoy the upcoming titles, but they'll certainly add an extra level of enjoyment. Each story is 8 or so pages long, some more and some less, and each is written and drawn by the creative team on the respective upcoming books. It's not just a prologue, but a preview of what to expect with each new book. It's a great way to test the waters for some of the new titles. There may be a few overlooked that pique your interest after reading the short prologues.

Marvel will likely do this again when the next batch of books starts, as seems to be the case with their recent new launches. The $5.99 price tag is a little more than a usual comic, but it clocks in at 50 pages of story and art so it'll keep you busy for a while. It's nice getting a taste of the different creative teams too, keeping things interesting from story to story.

All New Marvel NOW! Point One #1 is certainly a good choice if you're planning on picking up some of the new titles over the next few weeks.