Forward Thinking: Marvel Comics for August, 2006

With the summer winding down, August tends to be a slow news month, so Chris Hunter and I have tried to find the most intriguing offerings from Marvel's August solicitations.

ULTIMATES ANNUAL #2
Chris: Will someone please tell me who Charlie Huston is and why I should read his work? I've heard nothing about Moon Knight, good or bad, but now the guy is being placed on an Ultimates annual. So is everyone impressed yet? And whose idea was it to put Deodato on this book as the artist?

Tom: I found his website. He talks mostly about Moon Knight, though.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #2
Chris: Stuart Immonen? Oh yeah. All over that. Carey's not a bad choice either.

ULTIMATE FANTASTIC FOUR #33
Tom: This sounds like Ultimate Inhumans to me, if they haven’t already been introduced.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL #2
Tom: So, "Ultimate Kangaroo," eh? "All-action moral maze," you say? I’m a little intrigued wondering how all those concepts will manage to fit together.

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #98 and #99
Chris: Will someone tell me why there has to be a Clone Saga in the Ultimate Spider-Man series? Why? Is the purpose of the entire Ultimate Universe simple to retell Marvel Universe stories? Especially considering the complete negative stigma that is associated with the MU Clone Saga? I guess Bendis thinks that he can do it better. We'll see.

Tom: I have to admit, that’s a nice cover. Maybe she’s the clone?

SPIDER-MAN FAMILY: AMAZING FRIENDS
Tom: This doesn’t sound like a bad deal. The Untold Tales and Spider-Man 2099 reprints are probably worthwhile, and the main story should be decent too.

ANNIHILATION #1
Chris: Still not sure about this. I am interested, but I keep thinking that I'll wait for the trade. And didn't DC just do something very similar to this? Speaking of DC...

ANNIHILATION: THE NOVA CORPS FILES
Chris: Didn't DC copyright and trademark the whole "Files" idea with the whole "Secret Files" stuff? I could be mistaken. It's possible.

AGENTS OF ATLAS #1
Chris: This looks like fun. I like Kirk just fin as an artist, but, man do I wish it was Coker. Guess I'll have to be satisfied with the Coker covers. Not very familiar of the Marvel Golden Age, so I'm interested to see what this series has to offer.

CAPTAIN AMERICA #21
Tom: Wow -- now that’s a great cover!

Chris: That is a great cover.

MARVEL MILESTONES: CHRIS CLAREMONT & JIM LEE - X-MEN & THE STARJAMMERS PART 1
Tom: I know Marvel has previously repackaged old monthly stories in a new monthly format, but is Uncanny #275 so rare that $3.99 is a bargain compared to the back-issue boxes?

MOON KNIGHT #5
Chris: I almost wish that I was reading this series just for the appearance of Taskmaster, but I don't know this Huston guy...

NEW AVENGERS #23
Tom: I bought Essential Spider-Woman Volume 1 out of a combination of curiosity and nostalgia, not because I was riveted by her New Avengerhood. Is it really fair to call her "this year’s break-out star?"

SQUADRON SUPREME #6
Chris: Yeah, I was wondering why Nighthawk isn't on the team. Even Batman was on the team. This can't be a JLA knockoff if Nighthawk isn't on the team. Just ain't right.

Tom: Well, the "loner Batman" theory had him reluctant to join the JLA, and Nighthawk is supposed to be the Extreme! Hard-Core! Batman, so I guess he takes more convincing.

CIVIL WAR #4 (OF 7)
Chris: The debut of the new Alpha Flight, anyone? And I would hope that if there is "a death!" there would be a soon coming "funeral!"

Tom: Are you channeling a certain ‘90s Superman event?

HEROES FOR HIRE #1
Chris: No way in hell.

EXILES #85
Chris: Now this looks fun! And lots of trouble.

WOLVERINE: ORIGINS #5
Chris: I'm sticking with this series for a while. Definitely wanting to see and read about any revelations from Logan's past.

MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #18
Tom: This is, what, the second or third issue in a row PAD is writing? Is it one of his regular gigs now? If so, it might not be a bad book to try.

NEXTWAVE: AGENTS OF H.A.T.E. VOL. 1 - THIS IS WHAT THEY WANT PREMIERE HC
Tom: This made me realize -- there’s no new issue of Nextwave solicited here! Nice that the book gets a good hardcover, but why isn’t it on the August schedule?

Chris: This is the series that you should be reading and now you can...all in one place. It just doesn't get any more fun than this. One of Ellis' best works to date and Immonen mesmerizes with his artistic versatility with each issue.

MARVEL ZOMBIES HC
Chris: This series was a blast and I'm glad to see it getting the premiere treatment. I hope that Marvel recognizes the success of this series and gives us more. Good stuff.

CABLE/DEADPOOL VOL. 5: LIVING LEGENDS TPB
Chris: This seems to be one of those little series that can. Nice to see it getting the trade treatment. Had no idea what was going on with this series and this trade collection interests me. Cable controls a country now? "A paradise haven that threatens to destabilize countless governments and religions"? A lot has changed with the character since I last saw him. This may be worth checking out.

X-STATIX PRESENTS: DEAD GIRL TPB
Tom: I wonder if Amazon will give you a discount if you buy this along with Kraven’s Last Hunt.

SPIDER-MAN VISIONARIES: KURT BUSIEK VOL. 1 TPB
Tom: I missed these issues the first time around, but everybody seems to love them. I hope there’s room in the budget for this book!

ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN VOL. 16: DEADPOOL TPB
Chris: Had no idea that Kitty Pryde was Parker's girlfriend. Ultimate Deadpool and Reavers? I'm interested.

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