Forward Thinking: Marvel Comics for June, 2006

If you're a big fan of titles with superlative laden solicitations, then make yours Marvel this June. Tom Bondurant and I have your forecast here for the whats whatnots on Marvel's June 06 solicits. Read more as we discuss the ultimate, the final, the most fantastic, and the funny; and save yourself a little time and in-store rack reading come June.

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ULTIMATES 2 #12
Tom: So, this is the Big End Of Everything, except for the Ultimates 3 setup. I'm waiting for the trade on this title.

Brian W: The description of this book could be edited down to nothing but "the true fate of Thor" and they'd still have me rushing the rack to pick this one up. Ultimate Thors has been one of my favorite subplots in comics of the last year, an I've got way to much invested in it to leave this one alone. If you haven't been following the series thus far, waiting for the trade is the only way to go, as Millar's narrative house of cards in ULTIMATES is just way to good to only catch the last chapter. He's had a great run on here.

ETERNALS #1 (OF 6)
Tom: I know the Eternals have a good pedigree, and I bought 1602 on the strength of Gaiman's name alone, but I'd rather have read an Essential Eternals before jumping into this one cold.

Brian W: In an ideal world, I'd do the same, but this is 48 pages of Gaiman, and having personally seen the twinkle in his eyes on his ANANSI BOYS tour last fall, this is on the top of my list for the month.

FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST FAMILY #4 (of 6)
Tom: The first issue was quite good, so I will be getting this one for sure.

Brian W: The premise is really interesting, and this is one of the best uses of Casey in some time. Worth at least a browse depending on how things develop between now and then.

GIANT-SIZE HULK #1
Tom: I'd get this just for the "The End" story, which is out of print and incredibly hard to find.

Brian W: Oh my. I missed the news they were reprinting this. Sounds like a relatively good deal for $4.99, but still, for that price it's going to have to get in line this month.

MS. MARVEL #4
Tom: Word of mouth on this title has been good -- is it warranted?

Brian W: I thought Jim Lancaster put it best when he said De La Torre's pencils in this book capture Ms. Marvel's "pulchritudinous sexiness." It's got a lot in common with Slott's SHE-HULK, and I'm really liking these two as some of the most original work Marvel's done with its heroines in some time.

SHE-HULK #9
Tom: "Read SHE-HULK #8 yet?" It comes out in May -- what do you think?

Brian W: Speaking of SHE-HULK, has #8 even hit the racks yet? Yeah, I didn't think so. Marvel's solicitation is confusing me and making my head hurt -- unlike this series so far. Time travel and cowboys are awesome, and this book's got them both.

THE THING #8
Tom: "An event that's taken over a decade (in Marvel time) for the Thing to
reach... if he can go through with it." Uh ... Pon Farr?

Brian W: Well, that would certainly be unexpected. Then again, Slotty humor always seems to defy prediction.

NEW AVENGERS #21
Tom: This issue has a high curiosity factor for me. I may end up getting it just to see Chaykin draw Captain America.

Brian W: Of course no other book will be more affected by CIVIL WAR than NEW AVENGERS. The laws of probability dictate that whenever you have a book including a representative of every other relavent book in the Marvel U. any earth-shattering crossover will have a greater chance of affecting this book than any other. I'll give it a look.

MARVEL WESTERNS: THE TWO-GUN KID
Tom: What does it say about me that Neil Gaiman still has to sell me on a book but Dan Slott doesn't?

Brian W: At least this solicit makes sense to those unable to afford the luxury of time travel. Slott's on fire. It'll be good.

MARVEL WESTERNS: OUTLAW FILES
Tom: Judging from the list of entries, you need this book to tell all the Riders and Kids apart....

Brian W: Hopefully there's a well designed visual aid in the spirit of the times connecting romantic liaisons that have occurred among them as well.

ETERNALS BY JACK KIRBY HC
Tom: Jeepers -- $75.00? I know it's an oversized Kirby book, but again, what's wrong with an Essential volume?

Brian W: My reliable sources know nothing of an Essential alternative. I guess I just hope that I win Power Ball in the near future or stumble across some pirates gold, and then I'll consider picking this up.

MARVEL MASTERWORKS: RAWHIDE KID VOL. 1
Tom: This maybe should have been an Essential too ... and what's this about his Uncle Ben being killed?

Brian W: Erm. I'll read this if I find it in the 75% off bin at a convention one day. This is probably being targeted toward the colossal fan base that made his MAX mini the success that it was.

CHAMPIONS CLASSIC VOL. 1 TPB
Tom: Between this and the Giant-Size Hulk story, who else sees a Champions revival for '07?

Brian W: Those issues do cost about a hundred bucks and gall bladder donation in fine condition. It's nice to finally see a trade.

FANTASTIC FOUR/IRON MAN: BIG IN JAPAN TPB
Glad this has been collected, since I missed it as a miniseries. Fisher had a unique style that will be missed.

Brian W: Yeah, I missed this too. And I'm not sure just why -- given Fisher's art and the fact that it's named after one of my favorite Tom Waits songs.

ESSENTIAL FANTASTIC FOUR VOL. 5 TPB
Tom: This catches up the FF Essentials with the Masterworks, since the latter just finished the Kirby era last month. I'm getting the Masterworks, but even in black and white, it's still one of the greatest runs in the history of comics.

Brian W: I've read most of these, and though I won't be getting the Essentials, it comes with my highest seal of approval.

ASTONISHING X-MEN #15
Brian W: As the lone ongoing X-title I'm still following and a story that includes Whedon and the Hellfire club with Cassaday on art, this is an absolute can't miss.

Tom: I like Whedon, Cassaday, and the Hellfire Club, but the first "season" of Astonishing never clicked with me and I'll probably end up getting the trade.

UNCANNY X-MEN #474
Brian W: Given that I still don't accept Claremont's writing of the last couple years as X-Men cannon and the solicit includes two inherently contradictory descriptions of the plot, I'm sure merely seeing this on the racks will be a memory I spend the following week trying to expell from memory.

Tom: If this were another title, all that talk of "this is the end!", plus the next issue being a landmark of sorts, might make me think the book was cancelled with #475.

CIVIL WAR #2 (OF 7)
Brian W: Apparently, this issue "features one of the most shocking climaxes in Marvel Comics history." This seems to be the month of the superlatives in the Marvel Universe. It'll probably be interesting. But does anyone else think the cover designs for the CIVIL WAR tie-ins are sort of a cop-out?

Tom: They do look like they're made for the newsstand. Hey, maybe it cuts down on design costs -- and Marvel passes the savings on to you!

EXILES #83
Brian W: It's going to be really sad seeing Bedard take off, *cough cough* particularly looking over the horizon to the fate awaiting this book's writing. I'll read this issue with healthy bowl of sentimental mourning.