Quartermaster - January 2009 - War is Upon Us

Astonishing X-Men #27
Big action. Big Science. And a Big Mystery to solve! The superstar team of Warren Ellis and Simone Bianchi take the X-Men on a mission that will take them into mind-bending and previously uncharted territory -- one that will test them -- and their leader Cyclops -- to their very core.
Quick, look! Before it disappears! Ok, so it’s only been delayed by one month, as it was replaced by Ghost Boxes for two issues. But this series just doesn’t appeal to me.
Not in supply.

Cable #10
In the present, Cyclops, Emma and Beast have been ambushed by Bishop and a nasty little surprise he’s smuggled into the X-Men HQ. Meanwhile, hundreds of years in the future, Cable realizes what the former X-Man has done to the planet -- all in an effort to make sure Cable and the four-year-old mutant messiah never, ever return to the present. Once again, the rules of the hunt have been completely rewritten, and the future of mutantkind has never looked more uncertain.
The baby isn’t a baby anymore, in January she’ll be four years old already. Hmm. I still don’t get how Bishop knows what to do to change the future so Cable can’t return. Oh well.
Not in supply.

Captain America #46
Eisner-Winning artist Steve Epting returns as the New Captain America comes face-to-face with an old ally -- Prince Namor -- on a dangerous trip to China. Can Bucky and Namor team up to save the memory of an old comrade-in-arms as Cold War crimes come back to haunt the Winter Soldier? Part 1 of 3.
Presumably the old comrade in arms is Jim Hammond the Human Torch, as he’s on the alternate 70th anniversary cover. I missed out on Namor in Herc, and now I'm missing out on this. Oh well.
Not in supply.

Civil War: House of M #5
How Magneto formed the House of M! It all comes down to this...the final battle between Magneto's mutant army and the United States of America! Can the Master of Magnetism stand against non-metallic Sentinels? What will happen when Magneto's children learn that he's their father? And how will Earth's superpowers respond when the planet's most powerful mutant finally makes his bid to conquer the world? The epic conclusion to the House of M's greatest untold story is here!
Still not a lot I can say about this, as I haven't got the second issue yet.
In supply.

Fantastic Four #563
December has a Cosmic Sized special instead of the regular book. This month has the FF nowhere to be found. Is Millar really killing off Sue? Does Reed bite it in the final issue of SI? Is the Fantastic Four no more? Marvel are being very quite about this.
Missing in Action.
Erm. My mistake. Looks like the Millar-penned #563 has been delayed from December to January. It seems to have a Human Torch alt cover, exactly like Cap. Or Marvel just posted the solicit wrong.
Not in Supply.

Guardians of the Galaxy #9
Star-Lord...trapped in jail...in the Negative Zone Prison...under attack from King Blastaar and his barbarian hordes! Will Rocket Raccoon and his new Guardians arrive in time to save their leader? Given their recent run of luck, probably not! Plus, cool art by Star Wars penciller Bong Dazo staggering revelations about Adam Warlock - as events continue to build to WAR OF KINGS! Surely you must be there for the next chapter of the series that has WeeklyComicBookReview.com raving: "If you aren't reading GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY yet, now is the time to get a taste of the awesome that is Rocket Raccoon and the gang."
I'm pretty sure something is missing from that solicit. But it's Guardians, and it never misses and thats why its...
In supply.

Secret Invasion: War of Kings #1
It's finally here...WAR OF KINGS! The Secret Invasion may be over, but the Inhumans are still reeling from the terrible wounds inflicted on them by the Skrulls. And this time, the Royal Family and their massively powered people have been pushed too far! You have never seen the Inhumans like this - and it's only the beginning! Plus: How will the empire-expanding Vulcan react to these recent universe-shaking developments? Before this double-sized shocker is over, vengeance will be had, daring alliances will be forged, and the first shots in a destiny-changing battle will be fired! The acclaimed team of writers Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning and artist Paul Pelletier unite to revamp heroes, reveal villains and rock the universe!
It costs more...buuut...its double-sized and written by DnA. So its gotta be good.
In supply.

Thor #600
The mighty God of Thunder hits a major milestone! THOR goes back to its classic numbering for this issue 600 mega-event, and even Stan "The Man" Lee joins the party with an all-new story! J. Michael Straczynski and Olivier Coipel bring their widely acclaimed run to a major culmination! And Chris Giarrusso lays down an epic Mini Marvels Thor adventure! PLUS jaw- dropping wraparound covers by Olivier Coipel and Marko Djurdjevic! Miss this issue?! We say thee NAY!
This makes me laugh. In a good way, though.
Not in supply.

Tech-powered Ex-X-Men #20…I mean, New Warriors #20
FINAL ISSUE!
This is it. This is what it’s all led up to. In a future that’s everything he’s ever fought against, Night Thrasher has achieved his mission and been reunited with his brother, Dwayne. But at a cost. One that’s growing. And when that cost becomes too high, Donyell realizes he needs to take it upon himself to set things right. In this final issue of NEW WARRIORS, all bets are off. And no one leaves unscathed...
I was just wondering last week how many people were buying this.Apparently, not enough. Fans of Chamber, start sending Paul Cornell your requests.
Not in supply.

Uncanny X-Men Annual #2
This appears to be classified alongside the Dark Reign stuff. Hmm. I better add the Dark Reign One-Shot to my December list. I need to know what dark dealings the X-men are getting involved in. For some reason, Newsarama and CBR didn't have the cover for this - but IGN did.
In supply.


X-Factor #39
Witness the most important event in the lives of Jaime Madrox and Siren—the birth of their baby! What will happen to X-Factor—and what will be the meaning for mutantkind!...All we can guarantee are that the answers are not what you expect—but that’s what makes it X-Factor! Don’t miss what is sure to be one of the most talked-about books of 2009!
It’s Siryn. Get it right people. You’d think the birth of the second mutant baby would garner a bit more attention than a normal issue of XF. But none of the power players from Messiah CompleX seem to care. I’m not complaining – X-Factor doesn’t need to get involved in another cross over, and Peter David generally knows what he’s doing. I’m sure he can make it an siginificant event without the involvement of other books. X-Factor have probably been able to keep it secret, what with Bishop taking out everything that can detect mutants and all the power players from Messiah CompleX embroiled in their own problems. Besides, no one ever said this baby was a mutant…
In supply.

X-Force #11
After Warpath's shocking discovery last issue, now it can be told... the origin and history of the mysterious man who betrayed the Purifiers, killed a Technarch, and plans a dark future for X-Force and all of mutantkind. Welcome to first century ROME, and meet the man named Eliphas and his Black Queen...the woman the X-Men know as SELENE.
Looks like they’ll be picking up the Wither/Selene loose threads here. Not surprised. But it’s X-Force. It doesn’t exist. I don’t know about it.
Not in supply.

X-Infernus #2 (of 4)
Darkchilde comes calling to the X-Men’s doorstep—and she’s not leaving without her Soulsword. The next pulse-pounding issue by C.B. Cebulski and Giuseppe Cammuncoli is here and it’s shaking up the X-Men in a big way.
Yeah, that doesn’t tell us anything. No cover image either. For all the information that’s been thrown at us in interviews we still know very little about this mini. But it seems like it will be good.
In supply.

X-Men: Legacy #220
It’s the moment that X-Fans have been waiting for — Rogue makes her return to the X-Books. But while Xavier seeks out Rogue, who is searching for him? Hunter becomes hunted and friend becomes foe, in a story that will change your favorite Southern Belle forever. Part 1 (of 5)
Looks like Legacy is going straight from the crossover into a five-parter about the Prof and Rogue. I don’t care much for Rogue, so it looks like I won’t be getting this for a while still. I like Mike Carey’s writing, I just don’t like the topic.
Not in supply.

X-Men: Kingbreaker #2 (of 4)
Marvel Girl, Korvus and Lilandra are the only resistance to Vulcan’s reign, but Vulcan aims to end their rebellion. With Havok, Polaris and rest of the Starjammers in prison, they don’t stand to get much help. The Shi’Ar Empire is expanding under Emperor Vulcan’s reign… Come see the road to the WAR OF KINGS!
There's still two more issue of this in Febuary and March, so I don't think WoK is actually starting till April, despite what SI:WoK says. I think its like the Annihilation events which had a one-shot, minis and a main series, except the minis are GoG, Nova, Inhumans and this, and the scheduling is a bit off.
In supply.

X-Men: Manifest Destiny #5 (of 5)
The final issue of the hit X-Men anthology mini-series is here! See the pulse pounding conclusion of Mike Carey and Michael Ryan’s Iceman story? What does Mystique want and why is she coming to Iceman? Also stories featuring the return of Avalanche and a rockin’ story starring your favorite glam-X-lady Dazzler!
Well here’s my answer – MD is definitely five issues. Despite the first issue saying 'of 4' on the cover. I hope that the Iceman story has a good finish. I don’t much care about Dazzler or Avalanche though. This is a hit series? I thought everyone hated it. You may think I’m crazy to get it, but I’ve committed myself and I’m stubborn.
In supply.

X-Men: Worlds Apart #4 (of 4)
On one hand, her husband. On the other, her teammates. While Storm races to save the lives of the Black Panther and the X-Men, she recognizes a third option: take down the one responsible for making her choose in the first place. And to do it, she just might get some help from an unlikely source…
Say what? After all the hype Storm’s not going to choose between the X-Men and Wakandia? Meh.
Not in supply, fortunately.


Young X-Men #10
You think you know everything there is to know about YOUNG X-MEN? Think again. One shocker has been brewing since #1 and the pot peaks with #10. Don’t miss this landmark issue of Young X-Men.
I’m really tempted to pick this up. The Y-Men arc will have finished in December, and this book looks like it will be going somewhere at last. But I’m still getting a lot of miniseries in Jan, so I’ll probably wait for some of them to end, and for the book to pick up threads from Infernus.
Not in supply…yet.

Spoils of War - Better Late than Never

Cover to X-Men: Kingbreaker #2.

I know I had said that I would post a review on the new DotA - it's all typed up, but I forgot to post it. Rudi at the comics shop is trying to convince me to start playing the WoW TCG with him and some other guys, so I spent the evening looking at cards and it completly slipped my mind. I'll put it up tommorrow. But for now....

Well, I was right about Ink not being a mutant. However, the reveal of where his powers come from is...interesting. I hope they play this well, and we don't need another House of M to stop a whole slew of Inks. I'll keep watching this book as it seems to be on its way to becoming good. A late starter if there ever was one.

I don't feel so bad about not buying Worlds Apart any more, as it doesn't seem to be the advertised product so far. But I'll watch it too to see where it goes.

I am becoming increasinglyconvinced that Dark Reign is going to set up an X-Men vs Avengers summer crossover event. Read this interview with X-editor Nick Lowe and see if you agree. I was hoping that they were going to make War of Kings the big summer crossover, pushing the galactic books like Guardians and Nova firmly into the spotlight - but it seems WoK will be a 'secondary' event, like both Annihilations.

Thor's gonna jump from issue #12 to issue #600, like Avengers jumped to #500 before it was cancelled. It seems to me that they're trying to get the best of both worlds - launching a series with issue #1 and then jumping to a high anniverary issue, which, by the way, will cost you $5, less one cent. On the other hand, there will be an all-new story by Stan Lee in it. That might be worth $5.

Amazing Spider-Girl cancelled? Seems that One More Day didn't push up its sales after all.

Oh, and in case you're wondering, I'm leaning towards building a Decon Markus Hallow deck, so I can play healer in raids (I like playing that role) but switch to shadow burn stuff if I need to in solo games - and also make use of the ally-cost-reducing abilities human heroes have access to.

Spoils of War - I Am Offended

In his WordBalloon interview, Jeph Loeb said he will be reuniting the original four defender in Hulk. Yes, those four defenders. I'm not sure how that's possible. Dr Strange had his powers and title stripped from him, the Silver Surfer is heralding for Galactus, and Namor is supposed to be a villain at the moment. They'll team up with Hulk to fight the Offenders, consisting of Rulk (apparently that’s what we're calling him) and three other villain who's names look vaguely familiar (Tigershark, Baron Mordo and Terrax). I'm a Defenders fan and I'm cringing already.

There is a way to do the story without them actually teaming up. They are, after all, the Defenders. Rulk could put his team together, only to have Hulk appear to take him down, the Surfer show up with orders from Galactus to capture Terrax, whilst Strange is after Mordo for some mystical reason and Namor is tracking his old nemesis Tigershark. They each take down their man, look at each other briefly, and leave. The thing is, I just don't see Surfer and Namor taking time off to help Hulk. They have bigger issues at stake. But maybe its best not to try and understand this comic. After all, Thor did show up spouting Shakespere.

On the flipside, Namor's upcoming battle with Hercules in Incredible Hercules promises to be good, especially with Greg Pak's hints about an appearance by Poisidon.

According to Lying in the Gutters, the cover solicited by Dynamic Forces for Dark Reign is the evil illuminati image. Just as I thought. The only difference is that the eclipse appears red instead of bluish. I have to decide before the end of the month - do I order Dark Reign or not? I haven't been getting Avengers or Secret Invasion, and I don't care one iota about Doom, Loki or the Hood. I do, however, care about Namor and Emma Frost. I don't mind Namor as a bad guy, but the Emma thing has me worried. I just hope its some sort of powerplay by her to protect the X-Men (like Scott's secret X-Force) that the writers have come up with as a way to put the X-Men and Avengers at odds with each other. If it is I want to read about it. If Emma's leaving the X-Men and going evil again - well, I think that's a really bad idea and don't want to read about it. And I'm already getting too many books in December.

I got an email to say that X-Factor #34 is waiting for me. But, still no #33. So what do I do? Read it, or wait?

Spoils of War - Darkness between the Stars

Bendis on Dark Reign:
'…it's not an event. Dark Reign is not another event I'm writing. It's like the Initiative label that a lot of books had after Civil War, which announced it was about this part of the Marvel Universe. That's what Dark Reign is going to be. So I want to make that very clear.'

I have a theory about Dark Reign. I believe that it is the reign of Dr. Doom. In fact, I believe that the 'evil illuminati' picture we saw a while back, with the dark eclipse in the background, is the cover of Secret Invasion: Dark Reign. We've already seen Doom make alliances with Namor and Loki. I think Doom is in custody at the moment, but during the chaos of SI, one of Namor's sleeper cells could easily break him out. And while the superheroes struggle to cope with the aftermath of the invasion, especially if a prominent superhero dies, Doom can make moves to solidify his power even more with an alliance with the Hood and whoever else that is. These people could exert an incredible behind-the scenes hold over the world. Taking over the world publicly is so old-school villain - why not take over the world secretly? If the superheroes don't know you rule it, they can't come after you.


Dark Reign: New Nation looks like it will be one of these anthology books that the X-Men department seem to like. It has six writers and three artists. But what is the new nation? Well, each of the characters in Doom's alliance has control over a 'nation' - Doom has Latveria, Namor has the worldwide sleeper cells, Loki's been manipulating Asgard, whilst the Hood builds a kingpin-like empire in New York, and Frost co-leads the X-Men (or if its another White Queen, the Hellfire Club).

Secret Invasion: Requeim (not its actual title) sounds like a Fallen Son-esque mini-series in which people react to the death of a major superhero. Take your pick. Iron Man is the odds on favourite, one of his books was cancelled, and his other book is classified till after SI. The Wasp is a possibility. She's a founding Avenger, and Pym seems to think she's the Skrull's ace card. What exactly was in that formula he gave her? There's also Ms Marvel - leader of the Mighty Avengers and poster-girl of the Initiative. Her death would be a major blow - and her book is also classified till after Secret Invasion. Note the absence of Mighty Avengers, which wasn't being cancelled. Mr Fantastic is an option too - we have no idea what the FF will look like after Miller's run and FF: Cosmic Sized is classified. The only others who's death would warrant a miniseries are Cap and Thor - both of whom have already died in major events. And they've only just returned. Thor's book is missing - but it's been late before.

I'm confused about FF: Cosmic Sized. Its $5, so it looks like the usual oversized annual rather than a tie-in to Dark Reign or War of Kings, so unless it involves someone's death, I don't know why they're keeping it under wraps. Equally strange is She-Hulk: Cosmic Collision. Where did that come from? Are Marvel testing the waters for a Lady Liberators series?

I forgot to mention Nova's solicitation yesterday, which confirms the return of the Nova Corps. Interesting move with War of Kings around the corner. Seriously guys, policing earth = bad idea. Didn't we just repel an invasion by an alien race who was merely trying to help us? You think we're gonna let the Nova Corps tell us what to do? (You may notice I'm assuming we win SI)

We also know where the Kree stand now - down but not out. Joe Pokaski says:
"Ronan has been rebuilding the Kree Empire slowly but surely since the Annihilation, specifically in terms of military strength," the writer explains. "But the Kree serve the Inhumans' particular needs in this aspect by flexing a strength they have always had in spades: Their intelligence, and their technology. That capacity plus Karnak's ability to harness it could mean the answers they are looking for."

This also goes a long way to explaining Black Bolt's involvement in War of Kings. Now we need an image of Ronan and Black Bolt shaking hands. That would be awesome.

Is Warren Angel and Archangel? X-Force seemed to indicate he was both, with the unconscious ability to switch between forms. Uncanny #500 hinted he may be able to consciously switch forms, as he inexplicably took out a Sentinel off-panel. But people who have read SI: X-Men seem to think that they are separate individuals. Could he have changed off-panel? Curiouser and curiouser .

And lastly, I promised I'd talk about the MDCU exclusive comics. They won't all be movie tie-ins - it sounds like they're going to use this to experiment with a number of new concepts. New being relative - they mentioned westerns, which they've done before, but not for a while. Also mentioned sci-fi, I assume this means sci-fi without superheroes. They also mentioned spotlights of major characters which sounds Marvel Knight-y to me. So it seems like there won't be any important in-continuity books exclusive to MDCU yet.

Quartermaster - Marvel goes Dark and Cosmic

I felt like playing with colour today. Blue for titles, green for if I'm getting them, red if I'm not.

Civil War: House of M
Sometime this week I'll put up a post explaining why I like house of M so much. Till, then, in supply.





Dark…Stuff
Not much to say here, as its all classified. Not even sure which of these are one shots and which are miniseries. Secret Invasion: Dark Reign was announced as a one-shot somewhere, I think. Dark Reign: New Nation seems to be an anthology of the type liked by X-Men writers, and could be a oversized one shot, or part of a mini-series. I'll chat more about the classified stuff tomorrow on Spoils of War. But as I don't know what any of this is, and won't be able to get Marvel Previews: Dark Reign edition until its too late to order anything…not in supply. Of course, Kickasskomix pride themselves on being able to get anything I want, so if I really really need any of this, I can get it in January.

Guardians of the Galaxy #8
Goodness gracious. Blastaar vs Star-Lord in the Negative Zone? Rocket Raccoon leads the Guardians of the Galaxy? (Well, they showed us that in last month's cover, but I didn't believe them.) It’s a War of Kings lead-in too! Which is a good thing, cause I thought they might throw in another mini-series that I can't afford to get cause there's just too much happening in December. In supply.

Fantastic Four: Cosmic Sized #1
The solicit title says Fantastic four Cosmic Special, the picture says Fantastic Four: Cosmic Sized, and the file was named 'ffinvcov.jpg' . I'm telling you all this cause the solicit itself gives no information, a suspicious move which leads me to think it has something to do with the end of Secret Invasion. Except that its nowhere near any of the Dark Reign stuff in the solicit list. Not in supply for now, but being cosmic, there's an outside chance it may link to War of Kings, so we'll wait and see…

Hulk Family #1
Now, I wanted to get this, cause of Scorpion, but there's just too much stuff going on this month, and its $5. I can almost get two other comics for that price! So, not in supply.





Marvel Studios: Iron Man: Fast Friends #1 and The Incredible Hulk: The Fury Files #1
Now this was unexpected. Sure, we've had Secret Invasion: The Home Invasion, but two movie tie-in series available exclusively on MDCU? It’s a very interesting move, I'll have more comments on this tomorrow. I don't subscribe to MDCU, so not in supply.


She Hulk: Cosmic Collision
She Hulk with Quasar's sword? With Storm, Susan Storm and Valkyrie in it too? Its written by Peter David? In supply.





What If?
A whole slew of these with an interesting gimmick that they each have part of a back up story involving the Runaway's becoming the Young Avengers. We've all seen the Doom/Guantlet cover to What If? Secret Wars and the Cap holding Iron Man cover to What IF? Fallen Son. Darn Marvel, teasing us like that. Oh, What If? House of M should really be named What If? Decimation, but it probably wouldn't sell as much then. Not in supply.

Uncanny X-Men #505
This cover threw me for a bit - but I think its supposed to be the hotel in Cyclops' head. Which makes me wonder whether Storm's audience with Emma is real or not. Evil from Russia run amok in SF? Didn't the Order fight Ursa Major in SF? Written by Matt Fraction? Plus Simon Trask's press conference and Angel and Beast putting a fringe science team together. It all sounds really good. I hope it is. In supply.

X-Infernus #1
At least we know what this series name is now. They went with the simplest option. Its better than X-Men - Inferno II: Infernus. I'm really looking forward to this - rumour has it Mercury and Pixie will be involved, and a depowered mutant will gain mystic powers unrelated to the X-gene. In supply.


X-Factor #38
I have no idea what the Karma project is, or what it has to do with an army of Darwins. And wasn't Longshot a skrull? But its X-Factor investigating a large corporation, which sounds a lot like the days when they were up against Singularity, so I'm pretty sure its gonna be good. Oh, and fending off the US government who want Siryn and her baby. In supply.

X-Men: Kingbreaker #1
I've spoken about this before, so I don't have anything else to say, other than it's in supply.






X-Men: Legacy #219
Talk about agonising decisions. I want to get this - but I'm getting too any comics, and I know Mike Carey's gonna be going into Rogue stuff soon which I don't care about. I want to see what Juggy and the Prof are up to, but only if its interesting. Gah. Not in supply…but I may change my mind.

X-Men: Manifest Destiny #4
I could have sworn this was a four issue series. But now it say 'of 5'. I'll be getting the first issue of this on Friday. Reviews have been mostly negative, but I'm an optimist - Mike Carey said the Iceman story is going somewhere, and I believe him. This issue has a story about Mercury, which will be welcome. I miss her. In supply.

Young X-Men #9
I promised I'd re-look at this, but I still don't have much interest in the characters. It’s the end of a 2 parter, so I'll take another look when January previews come out. Not in supply…for now.