January Solicitations

[Byakko]

Honestly just aiming for Black Order #3. I'm in no mood to get into any larger on-going series and it's only 5 issues; it's an interesting POV and potentially helps to flesh out characters who up till now can be easily summed up as edgy; and I have a soft spot for them because I like villain teams, and technically half of the Order is family to boot.

Granted, still waiting on the actual first issue to know if the writing is as solid as I hope. Artwork so far as been...hit and miss. Black Swan's boobs in the preview look terrifying and painful to behold.

[Magneto]

Except that it's not.

Are the sales numbers great? No. But I've yet to see anything that proves that the constant relaunches are due to sales and not due to Marvel doing this with 90% of their books.

Marvel view the character on the same tier as Captain America, Iron Man, Hulk, etc. even if some fans don't agree. Those books get relaunched constantly. So does Captain Marvel. Low sales have nothing to do with it.

Sure, if that make you feel better.

Iron Man : 3 solo series since 2012 (Riri doesn't count)
Captain America : 4 solo series since 2012 (Sam doesn't count)
Hulk : 2 solo series since 2012 (Cho/She-Hulk doesn't count)
Captain Marvel : 7 solo series since 2012 (I'm not even counting Carol corps)

[Crimz]

In defense of Dan Slott here, I will say that although the character list is same old, same old, a chance exists that the look and mechanics of the story will be unlike the multiple times we've seen this stuff before. Both Doom and Galactus have been through some heavy duty "should have affected them" events since Secret Wars. If this is reflected and we don't get basically the same stuff Lee and Kirby did, I will be very impressed. But the promo doesn't reflect new.

I think I'll wait until reading this before making judgement. Please don't ban me from da interwebs.

That's how I'm going about it. I've already made my issues with the FF relying so much on Doom and to a lesser extent Galactus. But if the story does something different with the characters and not yet another tired attempt at what Lee/Kirby did then I'm good. I just hope that Doom isn't used for a long time in this book after that issue. He can easily appear in other books and fight other heroes, it's time to let the FF gain popularity without Doom.

[Michael Watkins]

So?

Doesn't mean there can't be more interesting stories involving both characters.

i'm paying attention to the trends. this mirrors what is happening in the x-verse. it's all back to basics (and, imo, a less interesting time). Magneto's back to being a asteroid M dwelling villain. and doom's back to being that incredibly obnoxious stock villain. this is all part of Marvel's overreaction to their new stuff not being well received. they should be sticking with what worked and discarding what didn't. instead they are just resetting everything. it ain't going to work. it's not going to make the FF more interesting. and, yes, this is my opinion/going with my gut. I haven't done a study. I just see the company making a lot of strange "creative" changes.

[Michael Watkins]

That's how I'm going about it. I've already made my issues with the FF relying so much on Doom and to a lesser extent Galactus. But if the story does something different with the characters and not yet another tired attempt at what Lee/Kirby did then I'm good. I just hope that Doom isn't used for a long time in this book after that issue. He can easily appear in other books and fight other heroes, it's time to let the FF gain popularity without Doom.

they will need to gain popularity, if Marvel is going to do something with the movie rights. I fear that they'll just utilize doom, namor, and/or silver surfer; jettisoning the rest.

[Crimz]

they will need to gain popularity, if Marvel is going to do something with the movie rights. I fear that they'll just utilize doom, namor, and/or silver surfer; jettisoning the rest.

That's my biggest fear. It's a scarily common for people to say that Marvel should forget about the FF and just use their villains, I hope they never listen to those comments. This run has a unique chance to boost the teams popularity and actually do new things with the characters. I hope that it doesn't fall into the common pitfall of aping the original run ad nauseam and ending up wasting this opportunity.

[Noodle]

Sure, if that make you feel better.

Iron Man : 3 solo series since 2012 (Riri doesn't count)
Captain America : 4 solo series since 2012 (Sam doesn't count)
Hulk : 2 solo series since 2012 (Cho/She-Hulk doesn't count)
Captain Marvel : 7 solo series since 2012 (I'm not even counting Carol corps)

Saying something "Doesn't Count" doesn't mean that it actually, you know, doesn't count. Sam was Marvel's Captain America. Riri was the main character in a book called "Iron Man." Those were the versions of those characters Marvel were promoting at that time. The books count. That's like saying a chunk of Morrison's Batman doesn't count because he wasn't Bruce. But you can think that "if that makes you feel better."

The only difference with Carol's relaunches is that they didn't change who's Captain Marvel like they did with Iron Man, Captain America, etc.

Also, if you include the new series just solicited, she's had 5 relaunches since 2012 (vol 7-9, Mighty Captain Marvel and the one coming in 2019). The current one was always billed as a mini. That matches Iron Man's 5 and one above Captain America's 4 (although they had two Cap books running with Secret Empire so technically it matches.)

[Magneto]

Saying something "Doesn't Count" doesn't mean that it actually, you know, doesn't count. Sam was Marvel's Captain America. Riri was the main character in a book called "Iron Man." Those were the versions of those characters Marvel were promoting at that time. The books count. That's like saying a chunk of Morrison's Batman doesn't count because he wasn't Bruce. But you can think that "if that makes you feel better."

The only difference with Carol's relaunches is that they didn't change who's Captain Marvel like they did with Iron Man, Captain America, etc.

Also, if you include the new series just solicited, she's had 5 relaunches since 2012 (vol 7-9, Mighty Captain Marvel and the one coming in 2019). The current one was always billed as a mini. That matches Iron Man's 5 and one above Captain America's 4 (although they had two Cap books running with Secret Empire so technically it matches.)

They're not the same characters... You can be a fan of Tony without being a fan of Riri. Let's compare the same characters. Dick Grayson's Batman isn't Bruce's Batman... If Captain Marvel had another character than Carol I wouldn't have count it. Carol had 6 solo series, not 5. Captain Marvel 2012-2013, 2014-2015, 2016, 2016-2017 (Mighty Captain Marvel), 2017-2018, 2019-. Add the mini-serie and she has 7. A mini's still a solo serie. You can even had Captain Marvel and Carol corps.

[bomaya]

it's all back to basics (and, imo, a less interesting time). Magneto's back to being a asteroid M dwelling villain. and doom's back to being that incredibly obnoxious stock villain.

Which is all perfectly fine if you consider Marvel comics as the medium it really is. It's what made the characters great in the first place. Maybe you need to move on from these comics if you are tired of reading the same things again?

[Michael Watkins]

Which is all perfectly fine if you consider Marvel comics as the medium it really is. It's what made the characters great in the first place. Maybe you need to move on from these comics if you are tired of reading the same things again?

eh now that's just your opinion, bro. their bread and butter is good characters. and by "good," I mean well developed. that development came about over decades. I didn't take notice of Daredevil until Miller's run. I didn't care for Magneto before Claremont's take on the character. neither writer created those characters. they just did something new and special with them; progress. a lot of the characters that I do like weren't created until the 90s or 2000s. I've seen plenty of change (good and bad). I've seen plenty of small reboots (good and bad). I've spent enough money on marvel products to voice my opinion on this matter.

[Noodle]

They're not the same characters... You can be a fan of Tony without being a fan of Riri. Let's compare the same characters. Dick Grayson's Batman isn't Bruce's Batman... If Captain Marvel had another character than Carol I wouldn't have count it. Carol had 6 solo series, not 5. Captain Marvel 2012-2013, 2014-2015, 2016, 2016-2017 (Mighty Captain Marvel), 2017-2018, 2019-. Add the mini-serie and she has 7. A mini's still a solo serie. You can even had Captain Marvel and Carol corps.

Being the same character doesn't matter. Being a fan of one version over the other doesn't matter. It's still a relaunch of the series. It's still a series with that character's name in the title. Riri's series was called "Iron Man" not "Iron Heart." It's listed by Marvel on their own website as "Invincible Iron Man (2016)" There was no Tony Stark book at that time. Her Iron Man book was the Iron Man book. That's a relaunch. Factually.

It's also ignoring the fact that the Captain Marvel relaunches mostly came with Marvel's "initiatives" (Legacy, NOW!, etc) which was when 90% of Marvel's stuff got relaunched. I'm not saying sales weren't somewhat involved in that shiny new "#1" on the cover. But I'm also saying that same logic is basically Marvel's business strategy now and is far from exclusive to Carol. It's extremely myopic to just say "Welp! Time for another Captain Marvel relaunch!" and not say the same thing when any other character gets their annual relaunch.

[Fuzzy Barbarian]

Picking up more than I thought I would, and might pick up even more than that! Alright looking month, especially as someone who digs Donny Cates' stuff.

Definitely:
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #1 I like Cates, liked his Thanos run and like the team. I dig Cosmic Ghost Rider, Silver Surfer, Beta Ray Bill, Richard Rider, Gladiator and Phyla-Vell (?), can tolerate Moon Dragon, Groot and Star-Lord and know nothing about Starhawk, but I hate Adam Warlock. Also, was kinda looking forward to Oracle being on the team, becausse I've always liked her design, but oh well. Unless Phyla-Vell is meant to be her.
INVADERS #1 - Hopefully it lasts longer than All-New Invaders. Also, not sure about Zdarsky on a series that I don't see as being very humorous at all. But yeah, for Cap, Namor and Bucky (also, is Bucky gonna have short hair again? Pretty please be yes!).
MARVEL KNIGHTS 20TH #5 (OF 6)
MARVEL KNIGHTS 20TH #6 (OF 6)
WEB OF VENOM: UNLEASHED #1
VENOM #10

COSMIC GHOST RIDER: BABY THANOS MUST DIE TPB - First issue of this series was pretty meh, but it's definitely picked up. Fun stuff.
NEW X-MEN: CHILDHOOD’S END — THE COMPLETE COLLECTION TPB - When I first read it, I KINDA liked this run, and every time I look back on it I dislike it more and more... but I kinda wanna own, since I own all the trades for Academy X and only the first Childhood's End one. What can I say, this is one of the series that got me into comics.


Maybe:
CONAN THE BARBARIAN #1 - Don't really care about Conan, but Jason Aaron's a mostly good writer, and when he's good he's really good. I think he fits the character well. Not really a fan of Asrar's art though, especially not on something like this. Also, that cover doesn't look very... Ribic'y.
CONAN THE BARBARIAN #2
FANTASTIC FOUR #6
UNCANNY X-MEN ANNUAL #1 - Don't tease me, Marvel. You guys just got off my **** list (in part because DC replaced you on it), so teasing this and not following through... just don't! Also, kudos for using all the different suits... but they weirdly re-used his first design for Cyclops (at least I think they did?) that didn't even need to be on the cover.
AGE OF X-MAN ALPHA #1 - Really? We're doing a crossover this soon into the relaunch? Fucking REALLY?! Ugh.
UNCANNY X-MEN #8-#10 - Not keen on a crossover; I already wasn't keen on the three times monthly series! Maybe I'll wait until the crossover is over and read the proper ongoings when they start.
WINTER SOLDIER #2 - Now that I know Bucky ends up in Invaders, don't really feel as much fo a need to pick up this series.
BLACK ORDER #3 (of 5) - Glad to see Richard Rider being referred to as Nova. Not sure if it was ever a thing, but I vaguely remember him being referred to as "Riochard Rider" while "Nova" usually meant Sam, kinda like what DC did with Barry Allen and Wally West (and why I was glad that The Flash/Speed Buggy crossover wasn't Wally West/Speed Buggy).
X-FORCE #2 - Dig the outfits. Also, seems like the first proper ongoing from this new X-Men relaunch and Brisson is a (mostly) good writer. Not keen on young Cable though.

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN BY J. MICHAEL STRACZYNSKI OMNIBUS VOL. 1 HC - I actually JUST started reading this run digitally, so yay! Sure, it ends terribly and has some... iffy stories, but it has a nice energy about it at the start that's so enjoyably... 2000s.
INFINITY WARS TPB - Duggan's a good writer and I might need to read this for Cates' GotG.
EXTERMINATION TPB - If it really does send the O5 home and ends well.
SPIDER-GEDDON TPB - If it's good. I bought the first two issues for Spider-Man PS4, mostly. Still find it weird that it doesn't involve Spencer's run, like, at all. I'm actually starting to think that mainstream Spider-Man won't even show up in it.
GHOST RIDER: THE WAR FOR HEAVEN BOOK 1 TPB - I don't think Aaron's run was anywhere near as good as some say it was -- I found it above average overall -- but I kinda wanna give it another read.
SPIDER-MAN/DOCTOR OCTOPUS: YEAR ONE TPB (NEW PRINTING) - Huh, I've never heard of this. Then again, I'm not a big Spidey person. Still, I liked Wells' Venom: Dark Origin, so maybe.
WOLVERINE: LOGAN TPB (NEW PRINTING) - Heard good things about this, ad Vaughan's a good writer.

[Fuzzy Barbarian]

Random thoughts:

Man, Clayton Crain's forearms never look right to me. Also, IS Black Widow back from the dead though? The Marvel wiki considers the current Black Widow a different character for some reason... even though Ben Reilly is in the same situation and is considered the OG Ben. Maybe she comes back in Infinity Wars or something, I don't know.

Okay, Tom Taylor's an alright writer, but I'm gonna miss Zdarsky's Spectacular Spider-Man. I know he didn't stay on until the end, but man, that was better than it had any right to be.

Man, I still don;t like Kate's current outfit, but it really doesn't look good when Eduard Petrovich draws it. Just... ew.

As someone who can't really recognise Terrax at a glance and thought he was Regent, I thought he had overgrown X-23 boneclaws for a on that Superior Spider-Man cover for a sec.

I don't get that Black Panther vs. Deadpool cover. Shouldn't it say something like "how do you like me meow?"?

Why... Why a 3D comic?! Ugh.

Sooooo... is Exiles ending? Huh.

Lol, gotta love how they reworked Weapon X into Weapon X-Force... just in time for X-Force to be relaunched and make it kinda redundant.

[Magneto]

Being the same character doesn't matter. Being a fan of one version over the other doesn't matter. It's still a relaunch of the series. It's still a series with that character's name in the title. Riri's series was called "Iron Man" not "Iron Heart." It's listed by Marvel on their own website as "Invincible Iron Man (2016)" There was no Tony Stark book at that time. Her Iron Man book was the Iron Man book. That's a relaunch. Factually.

It's also ignoring the fact that the Captain Marvel relaunches mostly came with Marvel's "initiatives" (Legacy, NOW!, etc) which was when 90% of Marvel's stuff got relaunched. I'm not saying sales weren't somewhat involved in that shiny new "#1" on the cover. But I'm also saying that same logic is basically Marvel's business strategy now and is far from exclusive to Carol. It's extremely myopic to just say "Welp! Time for another Captain Marvel relaunch!" and not say the same thing when any other character gets their annual relaunch.

It's a Iron Man relaunch, but not a Tony Stark relaunch. So, let's play your game. Carol had way more relaunch than any other Marvel characters since 2012.

[CaptCleghorn]

It's a Iron Man relaunch, but not a Tony Stark relaunch. So, let's play your game. Carol had way more relaunch than any other Marvel characters since 2012.

Are we counting these as Iron Man relaunches?